Press Releases

For immediate release: October 5, 2020

Gwen Carr, Communities United for Police Reform Demand de Blasio Stop Obstructing Justice

New York, NY (October 5, 2020) – In response to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s legal maneuvering: beginning an appeals process late Friday, October 2nd, seeking to stop a public judicial inquiry into his potential violations and neglect of duty in the killing of Eric Garner, as well as negligence and violations of duty by former NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill and other top NYPD officials, Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, and Loyda Colon of Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) issued the following statements:

For immediate release: September 30, 2020

Families of Loved Ones Killed by NYPD, Community Organizations, and CPR Denounce NYPD Discipline Matrix

In response to a September 30th deadline for public input to draft NYPD disciplinary guidelines released in August, families of New Yorkers killed by NYPD and close to 70 organizations joined Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) in a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio, Speaker Corey Johnson and NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea collectively rejecting the guidelines as “illegitimate and dangerous.”

For immediate release: September 29, 2020

Family of Antonio Williams, Killed by NYPD in 2019, Hold Vigil and March to Call for Justice One Year After Williams’ Death

Today, at 5:00 PM ET, the family of Antonio Williams held a vigil, followed by a march, at Edenwald Houses in the Bronx, where 27-year-old Williams and Officer Brian Mulkeen were killed by a reckless hail of 15 bullets from multiple plainclothes Bronx police officers on September 29, 2019, during what is believed to have been an unlawful stop. The event was led by Shawn and Gladys Williams, father and step-mother of Antonio Williams, and Antonio’s five brothers.

For immediate release: September 24, 2020

Win: Ruling Paves the Way for Blaz, Top NYPD Brass to Take Stand in Killing of Eric Garner

New York Supreme Court denies the majority of City’s motion to dismiss in Carr v de Blasio

New York, NY (September 24, 2020) – In a major win for transparency and basic civil rights, NY Supreme Court Justice Joan A. Madden ruled today that a public judicial inquiry into potential violations and neglect of duty by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, former NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill, and other top police officials arising from the death of Eric Garner can proceed.

For immediate release: September 17, 2020

Court Allows “Very Temporary” Stay of Publication of NYPD Misconduct Records

In response to today’s ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeal panel of judges that temporarily blocks New York City’s publication of NYPD officer disciplinary records, Communities United for Police Reform, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP issued the following
For immediate release: August 31, 2020

Communities United for Police Reform Responds to NYPD Release of Discipline Matrix

New York, NY - In response to today’s release of the NYPD discipline matrix that makes public the department’s disciplinary system penalty guidelines, Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) released the following statement from CPR spokesperson Mark Winston Griffith.
For immediate release: August 25, 2020

Court Rules Communities United for Police Reform May Intervene in NYPD Misconduct Database Case

Group That Led #Repeal50a Campaign to Enter Police Unions’ Lawsuit Aimed at Rolling Back 50-a Repeal and Re-Entrenching Police Secrecy

August 25, 2020, New York – Today, a federal court ruled that Communities United for Police Reform (CPR), represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, may intervene in a lawsuit brought by five New York City police unions, as well as corrections and firefighter unions, that seeks to block the City from publishing officer misconduct and discipline information and roll back the historic repeal of N.Y. Civil Rights Law § 50-a. The unions sued the City in July, after the New York State legislature repealed 50-a, a law that had shielded the records from the public, and the de Blasio administration announced plans to release a searchable NYPD misconduct database. Also last Friday, the court denied the unions’ request for a preliminary injunction blocking release of the records during the duration of the litigation.
For immediate release: August 21, 2020

Communities United for Police Reform Celebrates Denial Of Police Union’s Request for Injunction & Attempt to Rollback 50-a Repeal

New York, NY -- Today, U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failla denied police unions’ request for a preliminary injunction to block the City of New York from publishing officer misconduct databases, with limited exceptions.
For immediate release: August 20, 2020

CPR Statement on Release of 300,000+ Complaints about NYPD Officers

New York, NY – Today, the Second Circuit Court lifted the stay that was preventing the New York Civil Liberties Union from publishing its database of NYPD officer misconduct records that it obtained from the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), the independent agency that investigates certain complaints about police abuse of civilians. The database is now live here, and it contains information about more than 300,000 misconduct complaints that were investigated by the CCRB dating back to before 1985.
For immediate release: August 18, 2020

Communities United for Police Reform Condemns Police Union’s Request for Injunction in Attempt to Reverse 50-a Repeal

New York, NY -- Today, a federal hearing was held regarding the police unions’ request for a preliminary injunction to prevent the City of New York from publishing officer misconduct databases, following the repeal of New York’s police secrecy law, “50-a”. 

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