Communities United for Police Reform Responds to Court Ruling in Stop-and-Frisk Case

New York, NY

STATEMENT FROM COMMUNITIES UNITED FOR POLICE REFORM

In response to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling to grant the City of New York's request to withdraw its appeal, deny police unions’ appeal to intervene, and to lift the stay on remedies in Floyd v. City of New York, Communities United for Police Reform released the following statement from spokesperson Priscilla Gonzalez.

“Today's ruling rejects the police unions' baseless attempts to obstruct stop-and-frisk reforms. The decision puts us on the road forward to engage in a citywide process to identify concrete changes that will protect the constitutional and civil rights of all New Yorkers. The court-ordered reform process that can now move forward will be critical for achieving lasting reforms. New Yorkers who are directly impacted by stop-and-frisk abuses must play significant and formal roles in identifying solutions and evaluating outcomes.”

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Background

In August of 2013, a Federal court ruled that the Bloomberg administration’s stop-and-frisk program was unconstitutional. The Bloomberg administration and police unions sought to appeal the ruling and delay the implementation of court-ordered reforms, including a citywide process to identify solutions. In January, the de Blasio administration reached an agreement with plaintiffs to drop the city’s appeal and move forward with the process, and Judge Torres recently signed off on the agreement which led to the city officially dropping its appeal.

Judge Torres also rejected police unions’ motion to intervene in the case. Nonetheless, NYPD unions continued with legal maneuvers that delay all court-ordered reforms, including the development and enactment of lasting reforms to protect New Yorkers’ basic civil rights.

While there has been a significant decrease in NYPD-reported pedestrian stops since 2013, there is no evidence that unconstitutional and discriminatory stops have ended. In 2014, Black and Latina/o New Yorkers still account for over 80% of stops.

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.

Learn more: http://changethenypd.org/
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