NEW ROCHELLE, NY (May 20, 2026) — The City of New Rochelle selected and arranged every training component for the Civilian Complaint Review Board without any input from board members — in direct violation of the city code provision requiring members to select their own trainers, according to records obtained by Talk of the Sound under the Freedom of Information Law.
The city code governing the CCRB states that training on oversight history, community relations, and racial bias must be provided by “representatives of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) or other qualified trainers selected by the members of the CCRB.” The records show the city engaged NACOLE in January 2025 — six months before any CCRB members were appointed — using a generic template scope of work not yet customized for New Rochelle. No board vote on trainer selection ever occurred. It could not. The board has never met.
The NACOLE engagement was not the only instance. Records show the city similarly arranged Monroe University to provide training on racial history and community policing, and delivered a FOIL and Open Meetings Law training session via a recorded video sent by Deputy City Manager Todd Castaldo on January 23, 2026. In each case, the city selected and arranged the training without member input.
The records, produced in response to a FOIL request submitted May 17, 2026, show the earliest documented city contact with NACOLE was a January 10, 2025 email from Rita Azrelyant, Assistant to the City Manager, to Tina Barr at NACOLE — referencing an earlier conversation and an already-existing proposed scope of work. Police Commissioner Neil Reynolds was copied on that email. NACOLE’s Executive Director Cameron McElhiney and the city’s Corporation Counsel Dawn Warren were also involved in the contracting process, which was delayed for months by insurance requirements including general liability, errors and omissions, workers’ compensation, and disability coverage.
NACOLE ultimately conducted three virtual training sessions on March 16, March 25, and April 8, 2026 — more than 14 months after initial city contact. The sessions totaled nine hours. The city code specifies 9.75 hours of NACOLE training as a required component. The records contain no acknowledgment of the 45-minute shortfall and no explanation of how it would be resolved.
The records also show NACOLE declined to cover two topics required under the city code: systemic racism in law enforcement and equity and inclusion. NACOLE Director of Training and Education Tina Barr wrote in January 2025 that those topics would be better addressed by “a historian or researcher who is an expert on the topic” and someone who studies or works in DEI. The records do not show those topics were formally assigned to another provider. Monroe University’s April 7, 2026 training covered related but not identical ground.
After NACOLE’s final session on April 8, 2026, Barr wrote: “The CCRB has completed NACOLE training!” No city official responded in the records produced with a formal acknowledgment of legal completion or confirmation that all seven members had completed all sessions. Attendance across the three sessions was incomplete — several members missed live sessions and viewed recordings, with varying confirmation of completion.
The code violation on trainer selection applies to all three non-Citizens Police Academy training components. The board could not select its own trainers because it has never met to vote on anything. The city’s solution — selecting trainers itself — violated the code provision it was simultaneously citing as a reason the board could not yet review cases.
City Manager Wilfredo Melendez acknowledged in an April 13, 2026 email that the board could meet before training was complete. The board did not meet after that email.
Talk of the Sound submitted media inquiries to Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert, Commissioner Reynolds, City Manager Melendez, Deputy City Manager Castaldo, and Chairperson Fapohunda on May 17, 2026. No responses have been received as of publication.
This story is part of a continuing investigation into the New Rochelle Civilian Complaint Review Board. The full research report is available to paid subscribers at Words in Edgewise.
This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
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