22 Suggestions in Yonkers Police Reform Report

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano announced the Yonkers Police Reform Committee’s final report, consisting of twenty-two suggestive reforms to the Yonkers Police Department. The final report is open for public comment through Tuesday, March 2, 2021 at www.yonkersny.gov/yprc.

“Residents can take great pride in the Yonkers Police Reform Committee’s hard work; I thank them for their vested interest in creating inclusive reforms to further increase trust between the Yonkers Police Department and the communities they serve,” said Mayor Mike Spano. “I am very proud of the reforms we have made over the past nine years, becoming a model for police agencies across the country, but I recognize we can always do better. I encourage residents to review the final report for another opportunity to have their voices heard.”

Police Commissioner John J. Mueller stated, “We greatly appreciate the hard work and efforts of the City of Yonkers Police Reform Committee in creating this reform and reinvention plan and look forward to reviewing and implementing the final recommendations. I want to thank Mayor Mike Spano for his direction and guidance in forming the Committee; all the committee members for engaging in this process; and all the community members for voicing their comments and recommendations. The Yonkers Police Department is committed to transparency and excellence, and working together with our community we are dedicated to always improving and enhancing meaningful and equitable police services in the City of Yonkers.”

Carlos Moran, Chairman, Yonkers Police Reform Committee, commented, “The final report presented by the Yonkers Police Reform Committee is a culmination of the past five months which have been filled with long nights, countless hours reviewing policies and procedures of the Yonkers Police Department, and much productive dialogue. I thank my fellow Committee members for embarking on this journey to seek improvements to our Yonkers Police Department to better the Yonkers community. The conversation does not end here. The Committee encourages residents to review the final report and give public comment for consideration.”

The twenty-two suggestive reforms include:

1. Establish a Mental Health Crisis Outreach Team and Policy inclusive of trained professionals that could serve as the primary responders to calls that do not involve a legal issue or high threat of violence or risk to the individual or others.
2. Improve and expand programming at Westchester County-operated homeless shelters to better support the mental health needs of the homeless community.
3. Establish and raise public awareness of best practices for calling 911, providing residents with best practices for reporting an emergency.
4. Provide additional training to dispatchers for screening mental health emergencies.
5. Keep police presence in schools limited to student engagement opportunities, including school visits to speak at student assemblies and to introduce YPD community outreach programs designed specifically to engage youth and young adults in the local school district. Police can have an important role in supporting students through these programs in partnership with the school community.
6. Develop a comprehensive Community Policing Strategic Plan to ensure the entire Department understands and supports a policing model reflecting the desired vision, values, and goals of the community.
7. Bring YPD Community Affairs programs into neighborhoods by partnering with community organizations to identify neighborhood locations that could host Community Affairs programs while also serving as “safe places” for families to gather and for parent and youth support services.
8. Establish Consistency in Community Outreach Patrols to better familiarize precinct officers with the community, proactively offer resources and assistance to those in need, and establish positive police-community interactions.
9. Invest in Marketing for Community Affairs programs to attract a broader pool of residents who could benefit from the programs and positive interaction with members of the police department.
10. Establish and Deploy a Clergy Response Team into neighborhoods to help foster on-going opportunities for discussion between police and the community.
11. Improve options for reporting discriminatory stops and searches, including establishing a website for public reporting and raising awareness.
12. Strengthen respect for citizen rights and police procedure during traffic stops by creating an education program focused on informing citizens of their rights and the rights of police officers in conducting an investigation.
13. Improve public access to YPD policies, procedures, and disciplinary actions by posting internal policies on its website and disclosing the handling of police misconduct cases, including any disciplinary actions taken.
14. Pursue a performance evaluation program for officers that incorporates metrics based on Community Policing principles.
15. Improve the functions of the Police Professional Standards Review Committee (“PPSRC”) to ensure adequate community representation and reporting of Committee activities. The YPRC also suggests the City consider incorporating the functions of the proposed Civilian Complaint Review Board (“CCRB”) into the existing PPSRC structure.
16. Expand NYS Civil Service Banding Zones for Police Entrance Examination scores to provide a larger, more diverse pool of qualified candidates that could be considered for hire.
17. Strengthen the residency requirement for police officer candidates by extending the period of time that a police officer candidate must be a Yonkers resident, both prior to taking the written exam and post-hiring.
18. Award points on the Police Examination for long-term residency and for those of underrepresented populations to boost efforts for achieving a workforce that is representative of the diversity of Yonkers’ population.
19. Establish a Police Examination Preparation Course in Yonkers high schools to help students gain information and familiarity with the police examination and increase their confidence and comfort with taking the test.
20. Develop a long-term Police Recruitment Strategy for the African American community aimed at increasing the pool of African American police officer candidates. The City of Yonkers should also push for the creation of State and/or Federal police diversity recruitment programs to fund marketing and community outreach activities targeting underrepresented populations within local police departments.
21. Provide mental health support for police by utilizing the resources of an established Mental Health Crisis Team, as discussed in Recommendation 1.1, and ensure intergovernmental coordination for additional services as may be required.
22. Engage and train officers in mental health intervention by establishing an open line of communication between YPD leadership and officers on the various situations and incidents impacting their mental and physical health and their ability to perform their job functions. YPD should explore mental health and wellness training opportunities for supervisors to gain strategies and techniques for recognizing warning signs and applying effective intervention.

To access the Yonkers Police Reform Committee’s final report and submit public comment, visit [yonkersny.gov/yprc]yonkersny.gov/yprc. Residents can make public comments through Tuesday, March 2021. All public comments will be reviewed and considered.

Final Report Timeline

I Public comment period open through March 2, 2021 at [yonkersny.gov/yprc]yonkersny.gov/yprc.

II After comments are considered, the document will be sent to the Yonkers City Council for ratification or adoption.

III Mayor Spano will sign the final document to be sent to the Governor’s Office for review by April 1, 2021.

In June 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order No. 203 urged New York’s more than 500 police agencies to rebuild police-community relations. In August 2020, Governor Cuomo released the New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative as a resource and guide for local public officials and citizens to assist them in discussions to develop policies that protect the public, while meeting the local communities’ acceptance. The Governor’s Order authorizes the Director of the State Division of the Budget to condition State aid to localities on adopting the report.