SETTLING DISPUTES ACROSS A TABLE WHEN OFFICER AND CITIZEN CLASH

In 1993, at a time when New York City was racked with police
scandals, a new city law created the Civilian Complaint Review Board
so that accusations against police officers could be handled by an
independent agency. Cases would be investigated and then sent to the
full board, which would recommend punishment when wrongdoing was found.

Buried deep in the law was an unusual option for the accused and the
accusers. It called for mediation, a clearing of the air in which
both parties would meet face-to-face in a room with a mediator but
without lawyers, to explain themselves and, sometimes, vent their
anger. If mediation worked, the case would be closed, the allegation erased.

At first, this option was rarely used -- just 14 cases were mediated
in 1998, for example -- but it has become considerably more common in
recent years, especially since Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly
clarified some departmental controls on the process in 2004, making
it far more palatable to officers.

Mediated cases jumped to a high of 113 in 2004, and this year they
are on track to go even higher. Through the end of August, 92 of the
5,144 complaints received had been mediated. The percentage is small,
but mediated cases take about half as long to send to the board (115
days, on average) as investigated cases (223 days), officials said.

Mediation sessions are closed and the discussions are confidential,
but board and police officials recently allowed The New York Times to
talk with the participants after a mediation session. What emerged
was a glimpse of an unfiltered approach to resolving seemingly
intractable disagreements that is not nearly as touchy-feely as it
sounds. Sometimes, assumptions and anger can drop away quickly when
accuser meets the accused.

Since it is the accused and not the accuser who is wearing a blue
police uniform, the approach can seem almost upside down. Some
experts call mediation a bad deal for officers, and although many
officers are certainly skeptical or dismissive of the process, some
who participated said they were surprised by how much they got from
it. The officers said they relished the opportunity to explain why
they do their jobs the way they do. At the same time, their accusers
said that although mediation failed to wipe away their anger
completely, it certainly gave them new insights.

"I told them even if it was the White House, we would have done the
same thing, so they understand we are doing our job and they wanted
to be heard," Officer Jack Ng, accused of waving his weapon while
subduing a suspect, said of the two men who filed a complaint against
him and his partner. "So we understood them and they understood us."

Mediation is not available for the most serious allegations of abuse.
In fact, Christopher Dunn, of the New York Civil Liberties Union,
said that "because mediation stops the investigation and guarantees
there will be no discipline, it should be used in only the narrowest
of circumstances involving the most minor of offenses."

In cases that do come to mediation, the two sides sit across a table
in a private space to talk about what led to the complaint. It is a
no-holds-barred encounter that can turn emotional; participants
scream, curse or cry. Mediators are neutral, not judges, and both
sides are protected: An apology from an officer cannot be used in a
lawsuit, and an admission by a civilian is not grounds for arrest.

The program is voluntary for both sides. Complaints against officers
are not automatically withdrawn if an officer goes to mediation. If
either side is unhappy with mediation, then the case could go back to
a traditional investigation or end as "mediation attempted." That
happens very rarely, officials said. Instead, the case is usually
listed as mediated and both sides sign a "resolution agreement."

Officer Ng's experience was cited by both sides as an example of a
successful mediation.

He and his partner, Leon Guzman, got a radio call on Oct. 3, 2005: a
man with a gun on Grand and Allen Streets. They happened to be on
that corner, and they saw two men fitting the description. They left
their patrol car, and drew their guns; the men separated, the
officers chased them, stopped them, frisked them and eventually let them go.

Mark Gerse and Sam Orlando watched the episode, and their account
differed from the officers'. Mr. Gerse and Mr. Orlando were at work
in the Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center, a needle exchange
office at 25 Allen Street, and to them the officers appeared overzealous.

"These guys came in like it was the Wild West," said Mr. Gerse, the
center's deputy executive director. "They came in with guns drawn,
ready to shoot it up. Anything could have happened; guns could have
gone off. That was our basic complaint."

Mr. Gerse and Mr. Orlando, the center's health care coordinator,
filed their complaint 44 minutes after the episode. Later, the two
sides agreed to mediate. They did so on May 16. It took roughly an hour.

It was the first civilian complaint for Officers Ng and Guzman, who
work in Transit District 4. Officer Ng, 30, feared that the men would
demand an apology. Officer Guzman, 37, said he thought the mediation
would end in disagreement. "I thought there might be a little
hollering," he said.

Mr. Gerse and Mr. Orlando were also nervous.

"I thought it was going to turn into a shouting match," said Mr.
Orlando, 46. Mr. Gerse, 50, said, "I was uncomfortable." He added:
"It's very uncomfortable to be with cops."

But the perceptions of all four were different afterward.

"I really got to look at police officers in a total new light of
respect and where they are coming from," Mr. Orlando said.
"Obviously, these are two highly trained police officers who knew
what they were doing and are capable of handling their weapons."

Officer Guzman said, "We got to say our side of the story, and they
seemed to understand. We did everything positively."

Interestingly, neither side was swayed in its account of what
happened. Mr. Gerse and Mr. Orlando say both officers entered their
needle exchange office, but the officers said it was only Officer Ng
who went inside. Mr. Gerse and Mr. Orlando say the officers had their
guns drawn, which could have threatened clients who believe they are
in a safe place and might be discouraged from coming back.

The officers say that Officer Ng entered to chase a suspect, and that
Officer Guzman stayed outside on the street with the second suspect.

"My perspective was that they went too quick, they jumped too
quickly," Mr. Gerse said. "The bottom line is they just said they
would do better and we said we would do better, and we both agreed
that our resolve to work together in the future is a good thing."

When asked, Officer Guzman said he had not discussed his mediation
experience with his colleagues. Interviews with other officers
indicated a deeper skepticism. Just because they go along with
mediation, several said, it doesn't mean they believe in it.

"They'll give it a try," a veteran officer said of his colleagues.
"The path of least resistance is what a lot of guys will take. They
don't want to get in trouble; they don't want to have a bad record.
They're probably intimidated by the system and feel they won't get a
fair shake. So this is a way out."

As one police supervisor put it, "The feeling is, it's the least of all evils."

"In the ideal situation, both parties can understand their actions
and reactions," said Charles M. Greinsky, a former member of the
Civilian Complaint Review Board who helped start the program. "They
can march back into their respective worlds with a better
understanding of the other's perspective."

That is not so when cases are investigated, when the two sides cannot
exchange information, "so a misunderstanding may remain," said
Florence L. Finkle, the board's executive director.

The confidentiality agreement that both sides sign shields mediators
and participants from being called to testify in any legal
proceedings that may come of the dispute. No tape recording is made;
any notes are destroyed; lawyers must wait outside the mediation room
at the board's headquarters at 40 Rector Street.

Mr. Dunn, of the civil liberties group, said the case involving
Officers Ng and Guzman should never have made it to mediation. "For
the safety of the public and the integrity of the C.C.R.B., these
kinds of cases must be fully investigated," he said.

And Maria Haberfeld, the chairwoman of the department of law and
police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said she
believed mediation could only hurt police officers, especially if
their actions were within departmental guidelines.

Much of what occurs in police work is outside the view of most
civilians, she said, so the public sees a slice of a situation and
often makes inaccurate judgments. The sides are inherently
unbalanced: one has power to use force in society, the other does not.

By entering mediation, officers are surrendering some authority; the
process itself can be the punishment, Dr. Haberfeld said. "The
connotation is, you have already indicted the officer," she said.
"You are already coming from the perspective of the officer doing
something wrong."

The board has 30 to 40 mediators available. Half are lawyers and the
rest come from fields like human resources and social work. Mediators
are required to complete a 40-hour state training course in mediation
theory, as well as follow-up practical training by the state. Before
joining the board program, they must have two or three years'
experience mediating, and undergo two one-day training courses, one
at the board and the other at the Police Department, said Andrew
Case, a spokesman for the board. He said refresher training courses
are also given.

Ms. Finkle said it is decided that a complaint case may best be
resolved with mediation rather than investigation, roughly 75 percent
of city officers accept it, though more than half of the civilians reject it.

Governments in other states, and other nations, are calling to ask
questions about how to adapt the program. Officials from Oregon and
Michigan, for instance, as well as from London, Bolivia, Uzbekistan
and Russia have expressed interest.

Commissioner Kelly said he hoped the trend toward more mediation continued.

"I like the concept of mediation," he said. "I think it's win-win for
both the public and for police officers who receive complaints. It
gives everyone an opportunity to express their position."