NYPD officers at a precinct (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)
While there's widespread agreement today about the need to change or improve policing in our country, we fall far short of a consensus about the particular reforms needed. Should the changes leave the basic institutions of policing intact or should they be far-reaching? Should we dismantle current law enforcement structures and replace them with new entities? Or more generously fund existing agencies for promoting safety and justice?
Advocates' analysis is that abusive practices, from egregious incidents of brutality to bogus arrests backed up by "testilying" to daily disrespect and indignities, are so deeply entrenched and long-standing (reaching back to the founding of police departments in the U.S. in the 19th century), that only measures that are radical -- in that they address the roots of the problem -- will suffice to deliver justice.
Most police departments have unchecked power, and as the old shibboleth has it: power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Most politicians, even self-identified progressives like Bill de Blasio, will not take meaningful steps to curb the abuses or to sanction many officers whose violence and lawlessness are undeniable, documented by an unending series of hard-to-watch videos.
After Minneapolis police officers killed George Floyd, the movement promoting fundamental change literally swept the country, with street demonstrations and urgent calls for action taking place in virtually every sizable U.S. city, as well as many other jurisdictions. These activities took place under various banners, most often "Black Lives Matter" or "Defund The Police," or both slogans simultaneously. Over time "Black Lives Matter" has grown more popular with a broad range of constituencies. Many mainstream politicians, for example, subscribe to it, adopting the rallying cry and authorizing murals attesting to their support.
"Defund The Police," however, remains highly controversial amongst the public and with numerous public figures, including Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who express discomfort or outright opposition. Biden, in fact, has actually called for increased funding for police.
People's discomfort and opposition are based on their somewhat understandable interpretation that the slogan means the expeditious cutting of all monies for, and the disbanding entirely of, police forces. Also, many Americans think of public safety in terms of what police do or don’t do. Alternative means of curtailing crime and disorder are rarely part of the public discourse, and the fact that many calling to defund the police mean to shift significant sums away from policing and toward social services is often not understood or acknowledged.
Here's what PROP -- the Police Reform Organizing Project, a nonprofit that I run -- means by Defund The NYPD. Our guiding operating principle is to sharply curtail police power, presence, and personnel, mainly because such steps will significantly reduce the department's ability to carry out, and to get away with, abusive and racist practices. Also, through the resulting savings, these measures will make available additional resources to fund effective and benign alternative approaches.
Specific examples include:
Transfer traffic enforcement to another government agency. In 2019, NYPD officers issued nearly 1 million traffic summonses -- why do we need an officer with a gun to pull someone over who's driving a car with a broken taillight?
Disband NYPD units that are notorious for violating the rights and well-being of vulnerable constituencies. Eliminated units would include the nuisance abatement, vice, and peddlers squads.
Have mental health professionals be the first responders to emergencies involving people in psychiatric crises. Now 911 dispatchers have virtually only one option: to send officers, whose instincts and inclinations are often to use force to resolve problematic situations, an approach that far too often results in harm or even death for the New Yorker in emotional distress.
Remove from public schools all NYPD personnel who now outnumber social workers in the system. Let's return responsibility for school safety to educators who can still call on the police in exceptional circumstances.
Additionally, as part of an effort to curb police abuses, New York City should establish an independent prosecutor's office whose sole purpose would be to investigate and prosecute when warranted all alleged acts of police brutality, even when the victim was armed or did not die.
New York City spends over $10 billion annually on its law enforcement apparatus, the bulk of it going to the NYPD, whose practices drive the entire big, bloated system. Our proposed measures would cut expenditures by several billions, funds government could allocate to programs that support the communities most compromised by biased police tactics, for instance: real affordable housing to address our dire homeless problem; smaller school classes that studies show improve academic outcomes for all children across race and class lines; expanded health and mental health services; Cure Violence programs employing credible messengers who divert neighborhood youth from anti-social to productive activities; and public works projects providing jobs and job training to unemployed New Yorkers.
This agenda, manageable and sensible, would go a long way toward eliminating the severe hardships inflicted on vulnerable New Yorkers by our so-called justice system. Perhaps to enhance its political viability, we should consider employing different slogans from Defund The Police, such as: People Before Police; Government Should Help People, Not Hurt Them; or Cut Cops, Build Communities. Maybe they're not as dramatic or pithy as Defund The Police, but they more accurately reflect our worthy goal of creating a just, safe, and inclusive city for all New Yorkers.
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Robert Gangi is Director of the Police Reform Organizing Project. On Twitter @GangiFromPROP & @PROPNYC.
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Attorney General Letitia James (photo: @NewYorkStateAG)
In blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to sabotage the 2020 Census, a California court last week handed yet another key victory to the Office of the New York Attorney General. And this is just the latest in a string of triumphs coming from the office of the Empire State’s top lawyer as the president pushes his election-year agenda.
While the president’s rhetoric often translates to the introduction of potentially devastating policies, many of the administration’s most egregious moves have faced successful opposition on the legal battlefield. In large part, that is due to the tireless efforts by Democratic state attorneys general. And New York’s Letitia James has long been in the lead, fighting back the Trump administration’s agenda.
On immigration issues, she has been particularly successful. She led the successful charge to block immigration agents from making arrests at courthouses and filed a lawsuit that pressured the Department of Homeland Security to abandon plans to deport international students during the pandemic.
In another victory for asylum seekers and asylum recipients around the country, a lawsuit filed by Attorney General James blocked an order that would have limited employment authorization for asylum recipients. Her efforts also stopped the increase of fees for immigration related applications. Earlier this month, AG James secured another hard-fought win when a judge ruled in her favor to invalidate regulations that would have stripped workers of labor protections.
While James has used her role as the state’s top legal officer to protect vulnerable communities, that position has been weaponized by conservative attorneys general putting political interests above the public good.
The Trump administration’s frequent political stunts have further underscored the motivational differences between Democrats and Republicans holding the office. Democratic state attorneys general dedicated to preserving this nation’s bedrock principles have built coalitions and banded together to challenge the administration’s efforts to erode the rule of law. The same cannot be said of many Republican AGs, who have joined United States Attorney General Bill Barr in converting their offices into Trump campaign subsidiaries.
James has proven she can take Trump to task and her victories are adding up. In addition to her latest triumph in support of an accurate Census, in June, her office thwarted the administration’s craven bid to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 count.
More than just lawsuits, James’ office carries institutional heft that she has put to use to call out flagrant abuses of power and advocate for increased transparency in law enforcement. This year, that role has been more important than ever. Last week, she joined the chorus of voices calling on Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to release grand jury evidence in the Breonna Taylor police shooting case.
In addition to fighting for the voice of the people, AG James has rightfully blasted self-serving attorneys general such as Texas’ Ken Paxton, who has used the COVID-19 pandemic to attack reproductive rights. James, on the other hand, has continually backed an agenda to protect women’s rights and expand access to reproductive health care, which has included sparring with Trump and his attempts to reduce options for women everywhere.
Importantly, James hasn’t shied away from investigating the Trump Organization’s financial dealings. A Manhattan judge recently ordered the president’s son, Eric Trump, to comply with a subpoena and sit for an interview with James’ office.
In the coming months, it’s likely her leadership will be needed to combat a new slate of obvious overreach by an administration looking to exploit government powers to exact political retribution and gain. One of the latest attempts to undermine the rule of law: weaponizing the Department of Justice and taking aim at liability protections in order to bludgeon the administration’s perceived political enemies in Silicon Valley.
As the election approaches, New Yorkers will continue to look to AG James to protect democracy’s most foundational institutions. Her office ― time and time again ― has served as a last line of defense against a dangerously partisan president and his team of sycophantic enablers.
I look forward to continuing to support her on her journey to give voice to our most vulnerable citizens and bring justice for all New Yorkers. The future depends on it.
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Jeremy Sherber is the founding president of Grand Street Democrats in New York City. On Twitter @jsherber.
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The State Senate (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)
The presidential election will no doubt get most of the political ink between now and Election Day, November 3, but it’s important to remember that candidates for the state Legislature, including many incumbents and their challengers, are also on the ballot here in New York, the most politically corrupt state in the nation.
Among the most critical powers all state legislators wield is the power to control how elections are conducted and how government officials are held accountable. These “rules of the game” have everything to do with the policy outcomes that we all have to live with. It’s quite possible that all our political corruption is linked to the fact that New York is also number one in economic inequality, with the fewest people taking the biggest share of the money.
We at Represent.Us NY believe now is the perfect time to bring people together to fight for a government that works for all the people, not just the wealthy and connected. We’re asking all candidates for State Senate and Assembly to sign our #FixNYDemocracy pledge and commit to act on corruption in the next legislative session.
We began our campaign before the June primary, and gathered a bipartisan group of 37 candidates across 26 districts throughout New York State, from Buffalo to the Bronx, to commit to democracy and sign the pledge. Fourteen of those signers won their primaries, including but by no means limited to a group of progressive challengers who swept incumbents out of office.
That leaves dozens of incumbents and challengers whose level of commitment to cleaning up New York government remains unclear. Some incumbents may have feared retaliation from party leaders before the primary. But now that many candidates are likely to win safe districts in November, we really hope they’ll feel more free to stand up for what is right and help us build an unstoppable wave of electoral reforms that are so sorely needed here.
The pledge covers three essential issue areas:
1. Fixing New York elections through unbiased redistricting maps, fair ballot access rules, and expanding ranked-choice voting.
Redrawing election districts happens every ten years, once new Census data is out. New York passed a new redistricting process in 2014 that bears little resemblance to the relatively fair, independent redistricting that can be found in some other states. With the statehouse now firmly in Democratic Party hands, that process is still being debated, and could be in play well into next year. Also, last year Gov. Cuomo oversaw a process that made our ballot access rules the most restrictive in the nation, an existential threat to so-called third parties. This effort is still in the courts, but could affect 2021 elections.
2. Getting big money out of New York politics with lower contribution limits. New York’s political campaign contribution limits have been lowered, but remain among the highest in the nation.
3. Holding officials accountable through a truly independent ethics watchdog. The current commission, JCOPE, is weak and there have been efforts afoot to change it through legislation.
We need more elected officials who make decisions based on what is right for the people, rather than what big donors or a corrupt system pressure them to do. They must have the independence and courage to take on inequities further exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the movement against police brutality.
As Zohran Mamdani, a candidate for state Assembly in Astoria, Queens who won his recent primary winner over an incumbent legislator, said, “We’re in the midst of many crises but it’s important to know that they began long before this pandemic. For years, landlords, lobbyists and police unions have bought our elections and controlled our politics – and our politicians.”
Mamdani stands with Represent.Us NY to #FixNYDemocracy, get big money out of New York politics, and tackle inequality.
Represent.US NY continues to collect signatures on the pledge, and will do so until just before Election Day. Voters should contact their elected officials and local candidates and demand that they sign the pledge.
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Karen Young is a volunteer with Represent.Us NY, the Empire State Chapter of Represent.Us, the nation’s largest grassroots, nonpartisan anti-corruption organization. On Twitter @RepresentUsNYC.
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