FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 01/12/24
Media Contact: Eliel Cruz, press@justicecommittee.org
New York, NY – January 12, 2024 – In response to the news of a 51% increase in Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) NYPD misconduct complaints, the Justice Committee released the following statement from Executive Director Loyda Colón (they/them):
"This alarming spike in NYPD misconduct complaints under Eric Adams is not simply a statistic – it's a blaring alarm: NYC needs a radical shift in its approach to public safety. The idea that this increase is the result of ‘increased enforcement’ is a dangerous deflection being used by the NYPD and Mayor Adams to justify unconstitutional stops, illegal physical violence, and verbal assaults against New Yorkers by police. In fact, this increase is what logically follows from the surge in unconstitutional and racially disparate stop-and-frisk, the increased criminalization of poverty and mental illness, the systematic expansion of NYPD power, and the refusal to discipline abusive officers under Mayor Eric Adams.
Mayor Adams’ repeated slashing of services and programs that our communities need, while increasing the NYPD’s already bloated budget, is a set up for New Yorkers who are already struggling to survive. The mayor worsens housing instability and then locks us up when we are unhoused. He diminishes the already pathetic mental health services available and then treats us as criminals as we struggle with mental illness.
New York City needs a new public safety paradigm that prioritizes justice, equity, and the well-being of our communities, particularly those that have been over-policed and divested from for decades. This must begin with the immediate firing of officers who kill and abuse people, like the ones who killed Kawaski Trawick, Allan Feliz, Delrawn Small, Antonio Williams, Ronald Anthony Smith and others, and ensuring the How Many Stops Act becomes law so we have full transparency of all street stops and investigative encounters. Ultimately, no New Yorkers will be safe until NYC divests from policing and criminalization and devotes those resources towards essential services and infrastructure and non-police safety initiatives.”
###
Comments