In the Media

NYC decides pot fines are just the ticket

Mayor and police chief announce major NYC marijuana decriminalization; reform advocates say it's not enough
11/10/2014
Al Jazeera America

The New York Police Department will stop arresting people for possession of small amounts of marijuana and instead issue them civil citations, city officials said Monday, citing both a severe racial disparity in the law’s implementation and the burden of arrests on the criminal justice system as reasons for the change. 

White House weighed in on de Blasio pick for NYPD No. 2

11/06/2014
New York Post

Top cop Bill Bratton named a former Obama-administration official as his second-in-command Wednesday — a pick that Mayor de Blasio reluctantly approved to avoid a fight so soon after their public display of ¬affection at Gracie Mansion, sources told The Post.

Hizzoner gave the green light after “a lot of back-and-forth” and a surprise phone call Tuesday from the White House, a source said.

Benjamin Tucker, who had been deputy commissioner of training since returning to the NYPD in January, was sworn in at One Police Plaza on Wednesday afternoon.

Federal court clears way for stop-and-frisk reforms

11/06/2014
Amsterdam News

New York City can now move forward and implement its reform measures to overhaul the NYPD’s controversial practice of stop-and-frisk after a federal appeals court rejected police unions’ motions last Friday to block the changes. 

The ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan also confirmed Mayor Bill de Blasio administration’s request to drop its appeal of the lawsuit, Floyd vs. City of New York, which found that the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practice unlawfully targets people of color and violates their civil rights.

Benjamin Tucker named First Deputy Commissioner of NYPD

11/05/2014
Amsterdam News

Deputy Commissioner of Training Benjamin Tucker is named First Deputy Commissioner of the NYPD. Tucker, who has 45 years of experience with the department, takes the position after Police Chief Philip Banks III made waves last week turning down the job.

Tucker began his career with the NYPD in 1969 when he started as a police trainee becoming a uniformed officer in 1972. In 1991 he retired after 22 years and was nominated by President Barack Obama as deputy director in the Office of National Drug Policy Control.

New York City Can Finally Move Ahead With Stop-And-Frisk Settlement

11/02/2014
Huffington Post

NEW YORK -- Lawmakers and advocates rejoiced Friday after a federal appeals court refused to allowNew York City police unions to intervene in the city’s sweeping stop-and-frisk settlement. The decision removed the last major obstacle for Mayor Bill de Blasio in reforming the police department's use of the tactic, and in fulfilling a campaign promise that helped him win the mayor's race a year ago.

Stop and Frisk rally at City Hall - but this time against unions, not NYPD

09/29/2014
Daily News
The same coalition of community groups, police reform advocates and politicians who sued the city - and won - over stop and frisk rallied again at City Hall on Wednesday, but this time they weren't protesting the NYPD. Instead, the over 50 demonstrators gathered to protest against the NYPD unions, which are appealing the federal ruling in the case. That appeal is delaying the reform actions the judge ruled the NYPD must enact. "What's happening now is a prolonged temper tantrum by people who wanted to continue to flaunt and push institutional racism," fumed City Councilman Jumaane Williams.

Police Tactics in ‘Active Shooter’ Situations Face Scrutiny After Ohio Walmart Killing

09/28/2014
Vice News
At the tail end of what might go down in history as Ferguson Summer, Americans are debating whether police training and protocols sufficiently address racial stereotypes and the use of deadly force. A string of high-profile police killings of unarmed black men have dominated headlines, but the Ohio shooting of 22-year-old African-American John Crawford in a Walmart, by a white officer, raises some of the most complicated questions.

For Muslim New Yorkers, a Long Path From Surveillance to Civil Rights

For years, Muslim New Yorkers have been spied on, not heard; now they’re finding their political voice.
09/09/2014
The Nation
The Tayba Islamic Center is a small storefront mosque on the southern tip of Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn. Sandwiched between a kitchen-cabinet shop and a Jewish daycare center, its main identifying feature is a miniature dome that juts out of the green awning. This modest house of worship has a congregation that mainly consists of Pakistani New Yorkers—including Abdul Manaf, the mosque’s spokesman. On the evening of July 18, during the final ten days of Ramadan, Manaf received a call summoning him to the center. Three elderly men, all in native Pakistani dress and each on his way to Tayba, had been pelted with eggs by people driving around in a white Lexus and yelling, “This is for your Allah!” The attack stunned the old men and shook others, including the mosque’s imam, who called 911 and then telephoned Manaf. He drove directly to the center to find a speechless 70-year-old Sabir Toppa, egg shells in his hair, the yolk still dripping down his face.

Eric Garner Death & Chokehold Aftermath: Majority of New Yorkers Support Criminal Charges Against NYPD Officer, Poll Says

08/28/2014
Latin Post
A new poll reveals that the majority of New Yorkers believe New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo should be criminally prosecuted for his actions in the death of Eric Garner, the Staten Island man who died after police put him in an illegal chokehold last month.
 

Pages