Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
Improving police-community relations has been a topic of conversation for decades, especially in communities of color. This almost mythical idea of having a relationship between the people and the police that is positive seems unattainable. But is it?
Tuesday, Borough Presidents Eric Adams and Gale Brewer, of Brooklyn and Manhattan, respectively, along with civil rights attorney Norman Siegel, released a report that lays out the steps that would create the possibility of transforming this mythical relationship into one of reality.
In their almost 200-page report, “Improving Police-Community Relations,” which was compiled from the findings of town hall meetings held across the city, this group identified the real problems and gave concrete, well-thought-out solutions to making our city stronger and safer through fixes that in some cases are very easy and quick to implement, and others that may take more time. Even so, they are well within reason and the outcomes that would be achieved would change the direction of policing and strengthen our city as a whole.
The report identified many issues, but a clear thread throughout was that the public must be involved with the police and that public safety is a collaboration and not a one-way street. We see clearly that community policing can work when there is mutual respect and there is accountability on everyone’s part. And that we can never return to the era of stop-and-frisk, because if we do, all will be lost.
Some of the recommendations in the report are not new, but now they are detailed and explained in a way that shows that they are actually doable and achievable and, most of all, necessary.
As the report recommends, and we concur, a special prosecutor is necessary to investigate all matters of police misconduct, and that in the case of individuals being severely injured or killed by police, independent evidence gatherers should be used.
Another recommendation, one we have supported now for a very long time, is the total reform of the grand jury system. We all know it does not work, and when justice starts with a broken leg, there is no way it can complete a journey. Foremost in this regard is transparency. We need to end the secretive, behind-closed-doors method that obfuscates the process of justice.
Another recommendation of the project is the implementation of a new diversity plan—one that enhances the path to more openness and abets those already serving the city in roles such as school safety agents, traffic enforcement agents and the like by elimination of the two-year college requirement. Although we support opening the doors by eliminating the college requirement for entry, we would encourage the powers that be to allow those without the credits to enter the academy but to make it a priority for all those who join the force to have access to free CUNY courses so that they may obtain an associate’s degree within four years of entering the academy, and also to make free continuing education available for all those who are on the force. An educated police force is a stronger police force.
These ideas can be brought to fruition if the mayor and the police commissioner would just listen to the community, as this report has done. Real people have made these recommendations, and our citizens know what they need to help create a better tomorrow for everyone.
We all know that being in any job, especially one that has people’s lives at stake, is stressful. That is why the idea of sabbaticals is brilliant and one that needs to be implemented. Our police need time to recharge and reflect, and what better time for them to give back than when they can be on the front lines in the community in a positive way and not behind a gun and badge, apprehensive and insensitive to the community they serve?
With these recommendations and the creation of a coalition to monitor the progress of the implementation of this report, it could be a new day in this city—a new day that is long overdue and needed more than ever. New York is an ever-changing city. It has its bruises and blemishes, but it is a city that has fantastic people and communities that need to be celebrated and shared, not isolated and victimized. This report could be the next step to creating a better New York. As Siegel put it, “This report is one of the finest projects I have ever been associated with.” And we would agree. They have laid out the map. It is now up to the mayor and the police commissioner to follow the path in front of them.
As the report concludes, “New York City, above all cities, needs to move beyond a destructive preoccupation with race and color, but not only in ‘neighborhood policing.’ The authors believe that a majority of New Yorkers of all races, in uniform and out, share our hope for this and for an era of positive interactions with the police and one another where surprising and welcome things become possible, and our lives and the life of the city not only endure but become something shared and respected equally by all.” All we can say to that is Amen!
We also hope that this report is not the end of their town hall meetings, because what they have done thus far can be meaningfully bolstered with the inclusion of reports from Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island and Central Harlem.