Communities United for Police Reform responds to Governor Cuomo's State of the State and failure to address police violence

In response to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2020 State of The State address, Communities United for Police Reform released the following statement, which can be attributed to spokesperson Nahal Zamani:

"We’re disappointed in Governor Cuomo’s failure to address reducing police violence and improving police accountability and transparency in New York State.

"Recent cases of police misconduct and the consistent lack of accountability when police engage in activity that harms the community are clear indicators that it is beyond time for New York to join the majority of other states in increasing transparency of police misconduct records. We urge Governor Cuomo and state legislative leaders to pass the Safer NY Act in the 2020 legislative session.

"The Safer NY Act is a package that includes bills to:

• Repeal New York’s harmful police secrecy law, 50-a, (A2513-O’Donnell/S3695-Bailey);
• Strengthen the Special Prosecutor Executive Order (A1601-Perry/S2574-Bailey);
• Increase transparency of police interactions through the PoliceSTAT Act (A-Lentol/S1830A-Hoylman) requiring statewide reporting on policing of minor offenses and deaths in police custody;
• Legalize marijuana under a marijuana justice framework through the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (A1617-Peoples-Stokes/S1527-Krueger) land
• Reduce unnecessary arrests (A4053-Aubry/S2571-Bailey) by banning custodial arrests for non-criminal violations.

"While we’re heartened that Gov. Cuomo’s address mentioned the long overdue need to legalize marijuana, it’s imperative that these efforts ensure  tax revenues received from legalization are reinvested back into the communities who have historically been most harmed by the criminalization of marijuana."

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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 reduces reliance on policing. CPR runs coalitions of over 200 local, statewide and national organizations, bringing 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 most unfairly targeted by the NYPD.