Advocates, Community Groups Call for Inclusion of Specific NYPD Trainings, Accountability for Excessive Force and End to Disparate Enforcement at Council Hearing

Police reform advocates and community organizations from across the city testified at a City Council hearing on the NYPD’s plan to enhance officer trainings, calling for the inclusion of certain types of trainings and indicating that training alone is not a suitable solution. The advocates reiterated that clear, consistent and timely accountability for officers’ use of excessive force and systemic reforms to the disparate enforcement of minor infractions within communities of color are essential to prevent future tragedies like the death of Eric Garner.

The hearing was called in response to the NYPD’s announced intention to evaluate and enhance current officer training in response to the death of Eric Garner. Garner is the latest unarmed New Yorker of color, among dozens over the past several years, to die at the hands of the NYPD – others include Ramarley Graham, Noel Polanco, and Sean Bell. Following many of these incidents, the criminal justice system, previous mayoral administrations and the NYPD have failed to hold the officers fully accountable for their use of excessive, deadly force. It is not uncommon for these unjust deaths to be followed by pledges of new training from the NYPD, but those have not succeeded in preventing similar incidents from continuing to occur.

“While additional training for NYPD officers can be constructive if it includes the right components and if impacted community members and organizations are consulted in planning, implementation and evaluation phases, it cannot substitute for real accountability for police brutality and an end to abusive policing that disparately enforces minor infractions within communities of color,” said Priscilla Gonzalez of Communities United for Police Reform. “If the historical, systemic lack of accountability for excessive force, abuse of power and discriminatory hyper-aggressive enforcement of minor violations in communities of color are not addressed, our city will have overlooked root causes that contribute towards unjust police use-of-force incidents that far too often can be fatal for civilians. We must not allow the training message to officers be that police are above the law.”

“No matter how much officer training is enhanced, Broken Windows policing increases the odds of misconduct and wrongful arrests,” said Emily Galvin, Criminal Defense Attorney at The Bronx Defenders. “‘Broken Windows' policing creates distrust in communities through the sheer volume of police encounters and the disparate targeting of communities of color.”

“NYPD officers must be trained in the specific consequences of arrest for homeless New Yorkers for Quality of Life violations,” said Jean Rice, a board member at Picture the Homeless. “They have the discretion to give a warning, issue a ticket or arrest us. Yet, being homeless and receiving a ticket or arrest can have much more harmful consequences than for a housed New Yorker.  You can lose your shelter bed, and your belongings.  Criminal defense attorneys have told us that when someone is arrested for a Quality of Life violation or misdemeanor and they are homeless, judges often don’t set bail for them and they are remanded to Rikers.  Such was the case with the tragic case of homeless veteran Jerome Murdough, who sought relief from this winter’s bitter, freezing cold in a NYCHA building, only to be arrested, denied bail and sent to Rikers where he ‘baked’ in a hot cell.”

“Improving NYPD officer trainings is not enough and it won't stop NYPD's regular brutality and killings of Black New Yorkers,” said Monifa Bandele, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement. “Any meaningful changes must include real accountability to the communities NYPD is supposed to serve and communities determining how their neighborhoods are policed. Time and time again we've seen what happens when accountability is not upheld.”

“The New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) knows that police misconduct is a pervasive issue for all New Yorkers, especially LGBTQ and HIV-affected New Yorkers,” said Sydney Kopp-Richardson, Education and Training Coordinator, New York City Anti-Violence Project. “In 2013 AVP documented 68 cases of police misconduct from survivors of hate violence. AVP supports enhanced training for NYPD officers to ensure the safety for all New Yorkers, we also call for enhanced knowledge of the consequences associated with police misconduct and hyper-aggressive policing for minor offenses as it will ensure better policing and a safer city for all New Yorkers.”

“Eric Garner's tragic death highlights the disastrous consequences of NYPD policies that aggressively target low-level nonviolent offenses and rely on excessive force,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “Black and Latino New Yorkers are more likely to be the subjects of force than their neighbors. The City Council must act today to bring transparency, oversight and accountability to the police department's training and enforcement priorities. It's time for the NYPD to abandon broken windows policing and to make training in de-escalation tactics a key part of police training.”

“Excessive use of force is also a big problem for the transgender community when they are detained,” said Jennifer De La Cruz, transgender woman and leader of the LGBTQ project of Make the Road NY. “Eric Garner could've been me or any of my friends. The NYPD needs to continue to train their officers around excessive use of force. But without accountability, training is not enough.”

“Rather than continuing to promote these zero tolerance policing for our communities, it would be encouraging to see our city, our officials, and our police department demonstrating zero tolerance for the systemic abuse of our communities,” said Fahd Ahmed, Director of DRUM - South Asian Organizing Center.

“Training of officers is a good foundational step but it must be within the context of broader reforms of enforcement policy, a review and revision of candidate psychological screening, greater agency transparency and ultimately greater accountability to the law and the communities that the police serve,” said Kirsten John Foy, Northeast Regional Director of National Action Network.

“With recent incidents of police brutality, it's clear that more training is needed within the NYPD,” said Linda Sarsour, Executive Director of the Arab American Association of New York. “We have also seen troubling anti-Muslim training materials used and policy documents that label normal behaviors of Muslims as suspicious. We ask NYPD to review all of its materials and consult with community on trainings related to Arab and Muslim Americans.”

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About Communities United for Police Reform

Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) is an unprecedented campaign to end discriminatory policing practices in New York, and to build a lasting movement that promotes public safety and policing practices based on cooperation and respect– not discriminatory targeting and harassment.

CPR brings together a movement of community members, lawyers, researchers and activists to work for change. The partners in this campaign come from all 5 boroughs, from all walks of life and represent many of those unfairly targeted the most by the NYPD. CPR is fighting for reforms that will promote community safety while ensuring that the NYPD protects and serves all New Yorkers.

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