Communities United for Police Reform Responds to Speaker Mark-Viverito’s State of the City Address

“We applaud Speaker Mark-Viverito for making equity within our criminal justice system a priority in her State of the City – her plans to expand civil legal services, create a citywide bail fund, and reform school disciplinary practices are essential to moving our city towards a more equal justice system. The Speaker’s proposals to address the misguided use of arrests in the enforcement of low-level offenses are necessary to end the unjust criminalization of communities of color. For the effort to most meaningfully impact our communities, the Council and de Blasio administration must also address the unequal police enforcement for low-level offenses occurring in our city, so that the racial and other disparities in arrests are not simply transferred to disparities in who receives summonses and desk appearance tickets, which still carry economic and social collateral consequences. The pending Right To Know Act in the City Council presents another critical opportunity to improve transparency and the daily interactions between civilians and the police. The discriminatory ways in which our communities have been policed have gone unaddressed for too long, and we look forward to working with the Council to ensure all New Yorkers are provided with equal protection under the law.”

 
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