Media Contact
Yul-san Liem, yul-san@justicecommittee.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 1, 2024
New York, NY - Following the City Council's passage of the FY25 budget, Eva Costa and Utsho Rozario (mother and brother of Win Rozario, killed by NYPD in 2024), Samy Feliz (brother of Allan Feliz, killed by NYPD in 2019), Shawn and Gladys Williams (parents of Antonio Williams, killed by NYPD in 2019), and Victor Dempsey (brother of Delrawn Small, killed by NYPD in 2016) who have cases pending with the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) due to the killings of their loved ones by the NYPD, released the following joint statement:
"We're concerned that the budget passed yesterday has negative implications for whether the officers who unjustifiably killed our loved ones will be fired - and whether Mayor Adams will continue to shield those cops just as he's shielded the bloated NYPD budget while refusing to ensure that the CCRB has what they need to fulfill their responsibilities. It's good that the Council was able to fight to restore some of the cuts to CCRB from this past year, but what's reportedly been restored is nowhere near the additional $15 million that the Council previously noted should be added to CCRB's baseline budget. And just as problematic, this budget leaves intact the NYPD's continued role in mental health co-response teams and DCPI, the NYPD's huge press and public relations arm - which has more than doubled and ballooned in size to 86 staff under Mayor Adams. We know DCPI's work well because they have consistently worked to vilify our loved ones and the loved ones of all those in NYC who've been killed by the NYPD - and their budget should have been cut by at least 50%.
The NYPD routinely obstructs discipline of police when our loved ones are killed, so we rely on the CCRB to investigate and fight to discipline these cops. It's outrageous that the NYPD's budget is never at risk while the only other agency that can help us get the cops who murdered our loved ones is always on the chopping block. Too many of us have had to struggle to overcome years of mayoral and NYPD delays and obstruction as we fight to demand that the cops who killed our loved ones be fired. The 13 months it took the NYPD to finally deliver CCRB-substantiated discipline charges on Lt. Jonathan Rivera for killing Allan Feliz is only one of the latest examples. It's outrageous to allow the NYPD's budget to continue to grow unchecked while they bury discipline cases of police who choke and brutalize New Yorkers - this makes none of us safer and lets the cops think they're above the law.
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