In the Media

Activists call for investigation into NYPD’s handling of protests

01/15/2018
New York Daily News

Civil rights groups are asking for oversight hearings into the NYPD’s policing of protests after cops’ tactics at an immigration demonstration drew criticism last week.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, Communities United for Police Reform and others say City Council hearings should also probe the role of the Strategic Response Group, created in 2015 to handle large protests as well as anti-terrorism security.

De Blasio slammed for adding police reform bills to hearing last minute

01/08/2018
New York Post

Police-reform advocates on Monday slammed the de Blasio administration for waiting until the last minute before adding controversial police reform bills to a public hearing hosted by the mayor.

One measure in the Right to Know Act requires cops to get proof of consent from a person before searching them without a legal basis.

A second bill requires cops to ID themselves and provide business cards to suspects.

De Blasio slammed for timing on controversial police reform bill

01/08/2018
New York Daily News

The mayor hastily added a hearing for a controversial police reform bill to his schedule Monday — at a time when many of the activists opposed to it were mourning Erica Garner.

Mayor de Blasio added the Right to Know Act to a slew of other, less contentious, bills getting hearings Monday — slipping the bills into an updated advisory he issued two hours before the event was to begin. Meanwhile, a funeral was being held for Garner, whose father Eric Garner was killed as a police officer used a chokehold while trying to arrest him on Staten Island in 2014.

Melissa Mark-Viverito, a Mayor-Made Speaker, Sought a Member-Driven Legacy

12/30/2017
Gotham Gazette

Melissa Mark-Viverito, the first Latina to preside over the 51-member New York City Council, leaves office having shepherded a progressive shift in the city’s direction, in conjunction with fellow Democrat Mayor Bill de Blasio, a philosophically aligned partner in government who was the deciding factor in her winning the powerful speaker position four years ago.

Judge: NYPD must release documents on Ramarley Graham shooting

12/28/2017
NY1

The family of a Bronx teen shot and killed by a police officer has won a legal victory against the NYPD.

A State Supreme Court judge has ruled the department must release documents related to the death of Ramarley Graham.

His family will receive some for private use, while other files can only be reviewed with a judge present.

The NYPD had cited an obscure state law as a means to keep files on Graham's 2012 shooting private.

Judge slams NYPD's delay of slapping cops in Ramarley Graham slay

12/27/2017
New York Daily News

A judge has criticized the NYPD for delaying disciplining officers involved in the fatal shooting of Ramarley Graham in 2012 and ordered the department to release documents related to the tragedy.

Justice Manuel Mendez signed his decision on Dec. 22 — the same day NYPD Sgt. Scott Morris and Officer John McLoughlin were finally reprimanded for their roles in the Bronx shooting of the unarmed 18-year-old.

NYPD Wrong To Keep Ramarley Graham Shooting Records Secret: Court

12/27/2017
Patch

The NYPD must release a large batch of records related to a cop's 2012 killing of Bronx teenager Ramarley Graham, a Manhattan judge ruled Wednesday.

Siding with Graham's parents and police-reform advocacy groups in a Freedom of Information lawsuit, state Supreme Court Justice Manuel J. Mendez said the NYPD was wrong to say every document Graham's parents requested last year was exempt from disclosure under state public records laws.

Two Bronx cops punished for roles in Ramarley Graham shooting

12/22/2017
New York Daily News

Two cops are being disciplined for their roles in the shooting death of an unarmed Bronx man, police sources said Thursday.

NYPD Sgt. Scott Morris and Officer John McLoughlin faced departmental charges in connection with the killing of 18-year-old Ramarley Graham in February 2012. On Thursday, their cases were settled.

Morris will be suspended for 30 days without pay, then will resign without the “good guy” letter that would have allowed him to carry a weapon, sources said.

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