Press Releases

For immediate release:
March 17, 2015

Communities, Families Beset by Policing & Police Killings Make Call in Albany for New York State to Lead Nationally with Accountability & Transparency Reforms

New Yorkers call for governor and legislature to advance comprehensive police data reporting, special prosecutor

Community groups and the surviving family members of New Yorkers killed by police were in the capital to call for Albany leaders to set a national example by advancing comprehensive reforms to address the national crisis of failed police accountability and transparency. Specifically, the group called for the governor and legislative leaders to adopt a requirement for comprehensive collection and reporting of police data by departments across the state within the state budget, as well as for the governor to issue an executive order to establish a special prosecutor for police killings.

For immediate release:
March 11, 2015

Elected Officials & Advocates Call for Improvements, More Transparency in Gov. Cuomo’s Police Reporting Proposal

Community leaders call for New York to take national lead in police data reporting following recommendation by Obama taskforce on policing

As the New York State Legislature held hearings on criminal justice reform, New York State senators and assembly members joined civil rights advocates and community groups to announce support for strengthening Governor Cuomo’s proposal to require reporting on policing data.

For immediate release:
March 3, 2015

“Community Policing” Can’t Coincide with Discriminatory Broken Windows Policing

Community groups: proposal to add 1,000 officers won’t produce community policing, but instead counterproductive impact

Community groups from across New York City testified at a City Council Public Safety Committee hearing to challenge the idea that community policing was being undertaken or beginning in neighborhoods.

For immediate release:
March 3, 2015

Police Reform Advocates Call for NYC Council, Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo to Heed Specific Recommendations of President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing

NYC Council Should Pass the Right to Know Act; Governor Cuomo Should Assign Special Prosecutor & Mandate Comprehensive Demographic Data Reporting

In response to the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing recommending that police officers be required to seek consent for searches when no legal justification exists for them, independent prosecutors be assigned in cases of police brutality and killings, and demographic data on stops, frisks searches, summons, arrest, and use of force, Communities United for Police Reform released the following statement from spokesperson Joo-Hyun Kang.
 

For immediate release:
February 24, 2015

Communities United for Police Reform Responds to NYPD Commissioner Bratton’s Comments on History/Policing

In response to Police Commissioner Bill Bratton’s reported comments today that included “many of the worst parts of black history would have been impossible without police,” Communities United for Police Reform released the following statement from spokesperson Priscilla Gonzalez.
 

For immediate release:
February 11, 2015

Communities United for Police Reform Responds to Speaker Mark-Viverito’s State of the City Address

In response to Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s State of the City address, Communities United for Police Reform released the following statement from spokesperson Priscilla Gonzalez.

“We applaud Speaker Mark-Viverito for making equity within our criminal justice system a priority in her State of the City – her plans to expand civil legal services, create a citywide bail fund, and reform school disciplinary practices are essential to moving our city towards a more equal justice system. The Speaker’s proposals to address the misguided use of arrests in the enforcement of low-level offenses are necessary to end the unjust criminalization of communities of color.

For immediate release:
February 3, 2015

Communities United for Police Reform Reaction to de Blasio’s SOTC:

Real Change Still Needed at NYPD to End Discriminatory and Abusive Policing
Communities United for Police Reform, a leading voice for reform at the NYPD, released the following statement in response to Mayor de Blasio’s State of the City: “There were positive steps taken in 2014, including withdrawing Bloomberg-era legal challenges to the Community Safety Act and the federal stop-and-frisk lawsuit. However, the era of stop and frisk abuses and other discriminatory policing in our city is far from over. While reported stops are down, the racial disparity of those stops has remained. We have a long way to go before there can be claims of the deep and substantive transformation in policing that our city needs.
For immediate release:
January 30, 2015

To Shape National Agenda, Communities United for Police Reform Offers Testimony to President Obama on How to Improve Police Policy and Oversight in the 21st Century

On Friday, January 30 and Saturday, January 31, leaders of Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) join numerous advocates and leaders to submit testimony to President Obama’s administration on how to reform police policy and oversight, especially in large urban areas like New York City.

For immediate release:
January 29, 2015

Communities United for Police Reform to Bratton: Your New Plan is Misguided and Offensive

Police Reform Advocates Slammed NYPD Commissioner Bratton Today for Refusing to Move Beyond Broken Windows Policing

Communities United for Police Reform, a leading voice for NYPD reform, today slammed NYPD Commissioner Bratton for announcing so-called changes that will continue to deepen the divide between police officers and local communities:

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