New York, NY —

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is urging cops to resolve civilian complaints through mediation.

The process is part of the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the city's police watchdog agency. Police say 112 complaints were resolved through mediation last year, and 81 so far this year.

Complaints that don't involve a crime or physical injury are good targets for mediation, where the officer, civilian and a trained mediator sit down and discuss the incident that led to the complaint. If it's resolved, the complaint doesn't go in the officer's record.

Last year, the CCRB received just over 7,400 complaints, a slight decline from the previous two years. Most of the cases were closed because of uncooperative complainants or witnesses.