Repeal 50-A

How Police Unions Fight Reform

Activists insist that police departments must change. For half a century, New York City’s P.B.A. has successfully resisted such demands.
07/27/2020
New Yorker

In May, just days after a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, Lieutenant Bob Kroll, the bellicose leader of the city’s police union, described Floyd as a violent criminal, said that the protesters who had gathered to lament his death were terrorists, and complained that they weren’t being treated more roughly by police. Kroll, who has spoken unsentimentally about being involved in three shootings himself, said that he was fighting to get the accused officers reinstated. In the following days, the Kentucky police union rallied around officers who had fatally shot an E.M.T.

We looked at protester demands from across the nation and compared them with recent police reforms.

Protesters have made their demands clear, and cities are starting to respond. But is it enough?
07/20/2020
USA Today

In the 18 days after the death of George Floyd, 16 states introduced, amended, or passed various police-reform bills.

We looked at what protesters are asking for and what changes have actually been implemented. While a handful of new policies met demands, most local officials and law enforcement agencies failed to fulfill expectations.  

Defunding law enforcement

Lentory Johnson knows what "defund the police" means to her — and she has a perspective based on a deeply personal experience.

De Blasio Promised Another Charter Revision Commission; Electeds and Advocates are Ready with Suggestions

07/17/2020
Gotham Gazette

When Mayor Bill de Blasio said in late April that he was creating a task force to lead a “fair recovery” from the COVID-19 pandemic, nestled in his announcement was a brief statement that he also intends to call another Charter Revision Commission. But the mayor hasn’t yet convened that commission, which would be the third to be created while he has been mayor, the second by him alone, and hasn’t explained his rationale for it. 

The fight for transparency in police misconduct, explained

New York’s repeal of section 50-a — which allowed police to shield misconduct records — is a big win for activists, but there is more work to be done.
06/16/2020
Vox

In 2012, Ramarley Graham, an 18-year-old black teenager, was fatally shot in his own home by a white New York City police officer, Richard Haste. Haste and other officers had followed Graham home from a nearby bodega and forced their way in, later saying that they believed Graham was carrying a gun. Graham was, in fact, unarmed.

For immediate release: June 10, 2020

Victory: Communities United for Police Reform Celebrates Package of Civil Rights Laws that Make New Yorkers Safer from Police

New York, NY – After years of organizing across New York City and New York State, Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) celebrated the passage of a series of three bills collectively called the Safer NY Act that together increase police transparency and help increase accountability around New Yorkers' m

For immediate release: June 9, 2020

In Anticipation of Assembly Passage, Communities United for Police Reform Celebrates the Repeal of 50-a by New York State Legislature

New York, NY (June 9, 2020) – In anticipation of the New York State Assembly’s passage of the historic #Repeal50a bill, Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) and the Safer New York Act coalition that CPR leads are celebrating a milestone bringing New York one step closer to ending the era of police secrecy in New York state, through the repeal of NY’s police secrecy law, 50-a.

This legislative package on police reform is aimed at fixing the NYPD

The Safer NY Act would make it harder for the police to hide misconduct claims, force them to report demographic data about arrests, and legalize marijuana.
06/02/2020
Fast Company

As people protested around the country in response to the death of George Floyd, the nation has seen video after video of police tear gassing, shoving, and shooting at protestors. At massive protests in New York, a police van drove through a protest, and one officer even pulled a handgun on protestors in Manhattan’s Union Square.

Meet the men who scared de Blasio away from police reform

NYPD officer unions taught the NYC mayor a lesson in 2014. He hasn’t forgotten it.
06/02/2020
City & State

The chant was hard to decipher through a bullhorn on a Tribeca street Sunday night, all the more so because the message was a bit unfamiliar. But, listen to the video posted online enough times, and you can make out what the protester was yelling: “Fuck the PBA!” 

Police Misconduct Records Are Secret. Protests May Finally Change That.

06/04/2020
New York Times

At some point, history may show us that after years of aggression, after so much brutality that suggested so little fear of consequence, it took the looting of Chanel and the reversion of SoHo to a wasteland to disable a law that has made real police accountability so difficult in New York City. It required a political class moved by fear — of disorder and desecration — rather than compelled by the logic of justice, which had been obvious for so long.

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