We Repealed 50a and MORE!

Dear Members,

Brooklyn NAACP applauds the incredible leadership of Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins and Speaker Carl Heastie for advancing long overdue police reform. Following the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd at the hands of police officers, thousands of people all across this country and here in New York State took to the streets and created this moment. While this is a win for police accountability, it is not the end of the fight to uproot the criminal injustice system that has disproportionately plagued Black communities across New York and reimagine public safety, equity, and accountability moving forward. 

Several of the reforms passed this week, which are expected to be signed into law by Governor Cuomo, were included in the New York State NAACP Legislative agenda released earlier this year. The full list of legislation passed include;

  • S.8496/A.10611: Repeals section 50-a of the Civil Rights Law. The repeal makes disciplinary records of law enforcement subject to FOIL, just as all other records kept by public agencies, while protecting the sensitive personal contact and health information of the officers.

  • S.2574C/A.1601C: Creates an Office of Special Investigation within the Department of Law, under the Attorney General, which will investigate, and, if warranted, prosecute any incident of a person whose death was caused by a police officer or peace officer.

  • S.3253B/A.1360: Clarifies that anyone not under arrest has the right to record the police and maintain custody and control of that recording, and of any property or instruments used to record police activities. Sponsored by branch member Senator Kevin Parker

  • S.6670B/A.6144: The “Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act” will prohibit the use of chokeholds by law enforcement and establish the crime of aggravated strangulation as a Class-C felony.

  • S.3595C/A.10002B: Establishes the Law Enforcement Misconduct Investigative Office within the Department of Law to review, study, audit and make recommendations regarding operations, policies, programs and practices of local law enforcement agencies. 

  • S.1830C/A.10609: The Police Statistics and Transparency (STAT) Act requires courts to compile and publish racial and other demographic data of all low- level offenses, including misdemeanors and violations. The bill also requires police departments to submit annual reports on arrest-related deaths to be submitted to the Department of Criminal Justice Services and to the Governor and the Legislature.

  • S.8492/A.1531: The 911 False Reporting Bill would make it a hate crime to misuse emergency services like 911 based on race, gender or religion. 

  • S.6601A/A.8226: Affirms that all have the right to medical and mental health attention while in police custody and that law enforcement has a duty to provide attention to those needs.

  •  S.8493/A.8674: The New York State Police Body-Worn Cameras Program directs the Division of State Police to provide all State police officers with body-worn cameras and that the camera must be used anytime an officer is on patrol. Sponsored by branch member Senator Kevin Parker

  • S.2575B/A.10608: Requires a law enforcement officer or peace officer who discharges his or her weapon under circumstances where a person could be struck by a bullet to immediately report the incident within six hours to his or her superiors, whether they were on or off duty.

Brooklyn NAACP sees the passage of these reforms as an opportunity to reimagine public safety in ways that better serve our communities. We want to design a system of public safety that doesn’t have police at the center, but instead puts the people at the center. We have criminalized many of the symptoms of poverty and have made over-policing the only response to those issues. It is long past time that we change that approach. With the momentum from this newly passed legislation, we are hopeful that we are on the way to providing more support services to communities that need them the most.

We are grateful to be in coalition with partners like Communities United for Police Reform who have together with the New York State NAACP advocated for these reforms for years. To each and every one of you who took to the streets, called, sent a tweet or an email to legislators, your advocacy and participation in this fight was essential. We look forward to you joining the next steps to bring justice to those impacted, resources for our community to thrive and a more just form of public safety that reduces criminalization and incarceration.

When We Fight, WE WIN!

L. Joy Williams
President, NAACP Brooklyn Branch

criminal justice, PresidentL Joy Williams