By Dan Murphy
After the death of George Floyd this past summer, Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order requiring local Towns, Village and City’s to review their police department policies and procedures. “We have to address the tensions and lack of trust between our communities and the law enforcement that serves them. I am sending a letter to 500 jurisdictions, explaining that it is imperative that we address this urgent crisis,” Governor Cuomo said.
“I understand it’s complicated. I understand it’s difficult. But people are dying. New Yorkers do not run from a crisis – this is a time for leadership and action. Local elected officials must work together with the community and their police forces, to develop and implement reforms for a safer, fairer policing standard.”
“Collaborative” is the key word. It would be a mistake to frame these discussions as an adversarial process or an effort to impose top-down solutions. Issues must be aired but solutions must be crafted. The collaborative process should:
Review the needs of the community served by its police agency, and evaluate the department’s current policies and practices;
Establish policies that allow police to effectively and safely perform their duties;
Involve the entire community in the discussion;
Develop policy recommendations resulting from this review;
Offer a plan for public comment;
Present the plan to the local legislative body to ratify or adopt it, and;
Certify adoption of the plan to the State Budget Director on or before April 1, 2021.
“I urge everyone to begin these discussions immediately. Restoring the relationship between the community and the police is in everyone’s best interest, and conversation may be required to enable each stakeholder to understand others’ points of view. Time is short., said Cuomo
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 the adoption of the Report.
In Ossining, a group of twenty-three community leaders petitioned the Village Board of Trustees, seeking a seat at the table in the process for their Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. The leaders were responding to a decision by the Board of Trustees to enter into a contract with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) to serve as facilitators for the Collaborative process. At a meeting with Mayor Gearity on September 1, NAACP President Aaron Moore expressed frustration that the Village had issued a request for proposals and selected a facilitator without involving community stakeholders in the process.
“The Village rushed out the RFP with a two week deadline for proposals. The decision to select the Police Chiefs to guide the police reform process appears to be a serious conflict of interest,” Moore said. “Officer accountability is the key change we need at the Ossining Police Department. Will having a police organization in charge of reform address that need?”
Pastor Shaun Jones of the Star of Bethlehem Baptist Church, one of those signing the letter, emphasized the importance of community involvement in the process. “The Ossining police interact with dozens of ethnic and cultural communities,” he said. “Communities of color and the Ossining police Department already have a strained relationship. The Village can begin to bridge the divide by listening to the expressed needs and feelings of the black and Hispanic community that believe that a true reform process may be the difference between life or death for our sons and daughters after an interaction with the police.”
“Without the trust of the community, no reform process can be effective,” said Bishop Joan Whittaker, Pastor of HORAC Ministries. “I hope the Village will do the hard work necessary to engage the people who have the greatest stake in a police force that is effective and respectful of the community it is sworn to protect.”
Jerry Smith, former Ossining NAACP President, pointed out that past efforts to enact reforms have fallen short. “Will the end product of this process be a rehash of previous recommendations for sensitivity training and support for officers’ mental health needs?” he asked. “Unless there is an emphasis on transparency and accountability for police actions, there will not be any real change in the dynamic between the police and African American residents of Ossining.”
In Yonkers, Mayor Mike Spano appointed a 21-member committee to help reform the Yonkers Police Department and to to rebuild police-community relations, the Yonkers Police Reform Committee will meet over the next four months for a fact-based, open dialogue about the public safety needs of the city.
“Recent events across our nation have shed light on the need to reimagine how our local police agencies engage with the communities they protect,” said Mayor Spano. “In Yonkers, I am very proud of the reforms we’ve made together over the last eight years, becoming a model for other departments, but I also know we can always do better. We welcome the opportunity to continue transparent conversations with our residents to ensure Yonkers moves forward in a positive direction.”
Mayor Spano appointed a 21-member committee ranging in backgrounds and experiences to best reflect the concerns and opinions of how law enforcement is handled in Yonkers. Consisting of local community members, law enforcement, clergy and elected officials, the City of Yonkers Police Reform Committee includes current and former elected officials, retired and current police officers, clergy members and other community leaders.
Yonkers Police Commissioner John J. Mueller stated, “I believe that the formation of this committee and the important work it will undertake only advances the already strong commitment the Yonkers Police has to its communities. We welcome the opportunity for a comprehensive, evidenced-based evaluation and look forward to working together with the committee to the benefit of our residents, police officers, and City of Yonkers.”
As all local governments in Westchester address Cuomo’s required Police review, opponents of the recently passed Bail Reform in New York continue to speak out. Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino has made the issue of bail reform a large part of his effort to win a state senate seat on November 3. Astorino is challenging State Senator Peter Harckham in the 40th District, which includes northern westchester, putnam and dutchess counties.
According to the Astorino campaign, “Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess County residents overwhelmingly oppose, by a 79-20% margin, State Senator Peter Harckham’s no-cash-bail law. Mr. Harckham’s controversial law has been widely cited by law enforcement officials, including judges and three NYPD commissioners, as the underlying cause of the growing crime wave in New York. “
The law allows for the immediate release of those arrested for many crimes, some as serious as Manslaughter in the second degree; Aggravated vehicular homicide; Criminally negligent homicide; Assault in the third degree; Aggravated vehicular assault; Making a terroristic threat; Criminal possession of a gun on school grounds; Criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first and second degree, or near/on school grounds; Failure to register as a sex offender; Criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
“The Harckham no-cash-bail law is directly responsible for New York’s crime wave, and Hudson Valley families clearly understand that,” Mr. Astorino said. “Mr. Harckham’s bill demonstrates a serious, indeed dangerous, lapse of judgement, and the public is paying for it. No-cash-bail must be repealed for the security of our communities, and I will champion the effort to overturn it in the Senate.”
