In response to Mayor Adams announcement that he will be expanding the Street Conditions Observation Unit Team (SCOUT), Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) issued the following statement from CPR spokesperson Hassen Bashir from VOCAL-NY.
“The NYPD has a long and documented history of needlessly and violently killing people they perceive to be in a mental health crisis. Just yesterday, an NYPD officer shot and killed 19-year-old Win Rozario in his own home after he called 911 while in a mental health crisis. This tragedy occurred just weeks before the five-year anniversary of the NYPD killing of Kawaski Trawick, a Black gay man who was also killed in his home by NYPD officers who created a crisis situation and killed Trawick in less than 2 minutes.
At this morning’s press conference – where the mayor didn’t once utter Win’s name or even offer his family condolences– Mayor Adams doubled down on expanding police response to mental health. SCOUT is window-dressing, it’s still officers who are part of the response and it will ensure that there will be more New Yorkers killed by police, like Win and Kawaski. Instead, the Mayor should close the huge gaps in mental health services and supports that his administration has worsened. The NYPD must be removed from mental health response before they kill another New Yorker and the Mayor must invest in non-police crisis response teams, strong mental health infrastructure and housing.”
About Communities United for Police Reform
Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) is an unprecedented campaign to end discriminatory and abusive 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, grassroots organizers, lawyers, researchers and activists to work for change.