Communities United for Police Reform, Mother of Eric Garner Criticize Effort to Avoid Vote on Right to Know Act Police Reform Legislation

In response to a report that NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announced that the Right to Know Act legislation would not be considered for passage by the Council and instead allow the NYPD to handle it internally, Communities United for Police Reform released the following statement from spokesperson Anthonine Pierre, lead community organizer at Brooklyn Movement Center.

“At such a crisis moment where people are literally losing their lives due to a lack of police accountability, including in New York City, it is beyond disappointing that our city will fail to set an example by allowing the failures in police accountability to continue without legislative oversight. The frequent abuses in people’s most common everyday interactions with police that go unaccounted for are what perpetuate and lead to police brutality and killings. New York City will fail to address this by pursuing this administrative agreement instead of legislation.

“The Right to Know Act has the votes to pass the Council, is supported by over 200 community groups from across the city, and the policies it advances have been endorsed by the President’s Task Force on 21^st Century Policing. An agreement with the NYPD does not hold the weight of legislative oversight and these administrative changes are watered down and on top of existing NYPD rules that are already frequently violated without repercussion. There should be no confidence that this agreement will provide meaningful change for communities – without real accountability and enforcement mechanisms, police abuses that leave community members at risk of harm will continue in everyday interactions.”

Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner stated:

“It’s approaching two years since Eric was killed, and yet we’ve seen no reforms to advance police accountability from the Mayor or the City Council while the widely supported legislative reforms of the Right to Know Act are blocked by Bill Bratton and politics. It’s clear that the NYPD will not reform itself and that its own administrative rules are routinely not followed without consequence, or else my son would be alive today. The City Council should pass the Right to Know Act into law, because without true accountability and substantive reform, Black and Brown lives continue to be exposed to police abuses and violence.”

BACKGROUND:

See this memo laying out why this administrative agreement is inadequate and inferior to legislation: https://goo.gl/ik8HhI.

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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.