Safer NY Act

EXCLUSIVE: Reform groups say they'll lobby hard in Albany to repeal law that keeps police discipline records secret

A coalition of groups are calling for police reform and a repeal 50-a. (Susan Watts / New York Daily News)
02/11/2019
New York Daily News

A coalition of 88 police reform groups are making a hard push to scrap a decades-old state law that keeps officer discipline records secret.

The groups — many of them working under the banner of Communities United for Police Reform — will send a letter Tuesday to the state legislature calling for a series of police reforms, including the repeal of 50-a — a 1976 statute that limits public access to police and firefighters' disciplinary records.

Safer New York Act One Pager

The Safer New York Act is a package of bills in the New York State Legislature that would help increase police transparency and help increase accountability to New Yorkers' most common encounters with police. The Safer New York Act includes the Police Statistics and Transparency (STAT) Act,  codifying and strengthening the Special Prosecutor executive order, reducing Unnecessary Arrests for low-level, ticketable offenses, and repealing the NYS police secrecy law (CRL section 50-a).

New York Police Killed Her Son, Then Refused to Answer Her Questions. The Law They’re Hiding Behind Could Soon Be Repealed.

An obscure provision designed to protect personnel records makes it nearly impossible to hold the state’s cops accountable.
02/08/2019
Reason

In 2017, Constance Malcolm sat across from Kevin Richardson, the NYPD lawyer in charge of prosecuting police discipline cases. Richardson said he couldn't tell her the pending charges that were about to be presented in an open and public disciplinary trial against the police officer who killed her son.

CPR LEADERS PRESENT TESTIMONY CALLING FOR CHANGES TO NYPD DISCIPLINE SYSTEM

On February 7, 2019family representatives for Ramarley Graham, Eric Garner, Saheed Vassell, and Delrawn Small joined Communities United for Police Reform to present testimony to the New York City Council on reforming the broken NYPD disciplinary process for police officers who engage in misconduct and perpetrate harm against New Yorkers.  Written and oral comments were also submitted by Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) and CPR Members from Make the Road New York, Girls for Gender Equity, Legal Aid Society, New York Civil Liberties Union, Center for Constitutional Rights, and Bronx Defenders.

Quiero un Nueva York más seguro

Necesitamos transparencial policial
01/21/2019
El Diario NY

Han pasado más de 50 años desde que el líder del movimiento de derechos civiles Martin Luther King, pronunció su famoso discurso “Tengo un sueño”, en el que pidió derechos civiles y el fin del racismo. No había nacido cuando eso sucedió, pero mis experiencias personales me han hecho apreciar su lucha.

Por eso formo parte de un movimiento que continúa la lucha para acabar con el racismo y promover los derechos humanos de los neoyorquinos, incluido el derecho a estar libre de violencia policial.