ALBANY – The Equal Justice Agenda portion of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State speech primarily addressed the past several months’ protests and concerns over the shooting of unarmed civilians by police in New York and elsewhere.
“People are questioning our justice system, and they’re questioning whether it really is justice for all, and they’re questioning whether it really is color blind,”
Cuomo said. Even if that source of that distrust is just perception, he said, the problem is real, and the community and police have to trust and respect each other.
The agenda has seven parts:
1. Form a statewide Reconciliation Commission of Police-Community Relations
2. Recruit more minorities into law enforcement
3. Provide race and ethnic data on police actions statewide
4. Fund replacement ballistic vests and body cameras for officers and bullet resistant glass for patrol cars in high-crime areas
5. District attorneys may issue a grand jury report or letter of fact-finding to explain proceedings when a grand jury returns a “no true bill” after a police officer kills a civilian
6. Appoint an independent monitor who will review cases where civilians are killed by police and a grand jury returns a “no true bill;” the monitor can recommend a special prosecutor be appointed if errors are found
7. The independent monitor will have access to the grand jury proceedings (which will be protected)
Communities United for Police Reform issued a statement saying they were "disappointed that (Cuomo) did not discuss the need for a special prosecutor to investigate cases where New Yorkers are killed in police encounters," saying it doesn't address the inherent conflict when prosecutors investigate the police with whom they work.
Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said Cuomo’s agenda would allow prosecutors to make the grand jury process in these cases more transparent, and recognizes the local elected prosecutor’s role in investigating police-involved shootings.
Currently, he said, prosecutors in New York have little leeway to say anything more than that the grand jury voted not to indict.
“I’m very pleased with the proposal. It allows the prosecutor to talk about the case. That makes all the difference in the world,” Hoovler said. “It allows us to say what happened.”