CPR calls for 50% cut to NYPD’s press and communications budget, amongst other budget demands
Today, marked the New York City Council FY25 Preliminary Budget Hearing on Public Safety. As part of their campaign for budget justice, Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) members and partners offered testimony calling for specific cuts to the NYPD budget to improve the safety and health of all New Yorkers. Those testifying in-person or in writing included: Divad Durant and Merope Peponides from the Justice Committee, Obi Afriye from Legal Defense Fund, Isabelle Leyva from New York Civil Liberties Union, and CPR’s Program Director Ileana Mendez-Peñate.
Following the hearing, Communities United for Police Reform released the following statement from Divad Durant, CPR spokesperson and member leader of the Justice Committee:
“Under Mayor Adams, the NYPD routinely and egregiously overspends their already bloated budget to wield immense and illegitimate power that ultimately makes New Yorkers less safe. The Adams administration continues to bankroll NYPD’s violence, obstruction, misinformation, overspending, and lack of accountability with no checks or balances. The NYPD’s public relations budget alone was at least $3.4 million in the past year - and is used to run misinformation campaigns, spread lies, attack judges and other civil servants on social media, and create false fear-mongering narratives about public safety. Meanwhile, services that support real community safety, like housing, food, libraries, education, and support for families, continue to be gutted.
Creating a safe New York City requires deep and sustained investment that nurtures robust, healthy, and safe communities - not more policing. We call on the Council and Mayor to stop rewarding NYPD violence and misinformation by freezing the hiring of school police, disbanding the hyper-violent Strategic Response Group, removing the NYPD from mental health “co-response teams”, cutting the NYPD’s public relations/communications budget by at least 50%, block attempts to increase NYPD headcount, and reallocate all of the funding from the aforementioned demands into community programs that actually help keep us safe.”
Testimony submitted to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee by Communities United for Police Reform members and partners can be found here.
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.