Press Releases

"The recent departures of Police Chief Philip Banks and First Deputy Police Commissioner Rafael Pineiro raise concerns about how changing the NYPD as an institution will move from words to action. Ensuring that senior leadership of the NYPD, like all city agencies, become more representative of the City’s diverse communities is important as one indicator of commitment to change. At the same time, there are concrete changes to NYPD policy and culture that are necessary and long-overdue. Officers who brutalize New Yorkers must be held accountable by the department with timely and appropriate discipline. The NYPD must end discriminatory practices, such as unlawful searches, racially biased marijuana arrests and other examples of abusive ‘broken windows’ enforcement in communities of color,” said Priscilla Gonzalez.

New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, New York City Council members and other city leaders from the law enforcement and advocacy communities were joined by New Yorkers from across the city to urge the Court of Appeals to lift its stay on the court-ordered stop-and-frisk reform process and end NYPD unions’ obstruction.  The group, convening just prior to the beginning of the first court hearing with oral arguments on the appeal, also demanded that the police unions stop using frivolous legal maneuvers to block the beginning of the reform process, in which they would be a particip

New Yorkers stress need for court-ordered reform process inclusive of affected communities and other stakeholders to enact lasting reforms beyond just drop in number of stops

“The issue isn’t whether New Yorkers want their quality of life issues addressed – everyone deserves that – or whether the police should enforce the law, but it is in how certain communities are unreasonably targeted for low-level offenses.