Reform NYPD Now
Over 60 nonprofit organizations – including social justice and advocacy organizations, religious congregations, and nonprofits providing vital education, health, housing, youth development, and other social services in low-income communities of color – sent a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea and all members of the New York City Council, calling for the immediate implementation of necessary changes to NYPD policies and practices.
The REFORM NYPD NOW agenda includes recommendations from a wide variety of advocates and focuses on vital array of reforms for which there is a broad consensus and that can be adopted immediately. The reforms seek to reduce incidents of police officer misconduct, improve the training of police officers, and enhance accountability for officers involved in misconduct.
For example, the agenda includes:
• Adopting the “8 Can’t Wait” reforms – which include requiring officers to de-escalate situations before using force, report all uses of force, give verbal warnings where possible before using deadly force, and intervene when they see other officers engaging in misconduct. These reforms are being advocated for nationally and have already been adopted by the police departments in Boston, San Francisco, Tucson, and elsewhere.
• Strengthening the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), including providing the CCRB with the authority to impose discipline on officers when its investigations have resulted in findings of misconduct.
• Making footage from body-worn cameras immediately available to the public.
• Prohibiting the hiring of officers with a history of excessive force or serious substantiated misconduct complaints.
• Requiring annual training for all officers in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), community relations, de-escalation strategies, and preventing discriminatory profiling.
In addition, the REFORM NYPD NOW agenda calls on the Mayor and the Police Commissioner to publicly acknowledge and apologize for NYPD’s history of disparate treatment of persons of color, and to pledge to institute the proposed reforms.
READ THE STATEMENT ON THE MAYOR’S DRAFT PLAN
CURRENT LIST OF SIGNATORY ORGANIZATIONS
| American Baptist Churches of Metropolitan New York Apicha Community Health Center Association to Benefit Children Bethel Gospel Assembly, Inc. Boys’ Club of New York BRC Broadway Housing Communities Brooklyn Community Services Center for Employment Opportunities Children’s Aid Society Children of Promise, NYC Church of the Resurrection Claremont Neighborhood Centers, Inc. College Access: Research & Action (CARA) Community Connections for Youth Community Health Care Association of NYS Community Healthcare Network Concrete Safaris Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation Dare2Draw Directions For Our Youth East Harlem Community Health Committee EHTP & East Harlem Scholars Academies East River North Renewal HDFC Educational Alliance Exodus Transitional Community Forestdale The Fortune Society Goddard Riverside Good Shepherd Services GOSO/SAVE |
Grand Street Settlement HANAC Inc. Health People Hope Community Hudson Guild Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Center Kingsbridge Heights Community Center LSA Family Health Service Lutheran Social Services of NY Marcus Garvey Park Alliance Metro Hope Church Minority Business Leadership Council Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church New Settlement Apartments NMIC The Opportunity Network Queens Community House Row New York Student Success Network Sunnyside Community Services Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center STRIVE New York Union Settlement Vibrant Emotional Health Volunteers of America – Greater New York Women In Need (Win) YMCA of Greater New York Young Audiences New York Youth Action Programs and Homes |