The Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP) eschewed its usual role of police watchdog for police bookworm in the ex-mayoral candidate Robert Gangi-led nonprofit’s newest report, “The Notorious and True History of NYC’s Finest.”
“We came up with the idea of researching the history of [the] NYPD and issuing a report that would document in undeniable ways how far back and long-standing these objectionable practices are, as a way of debunking the sanctified pathology that surrounds the NYPD,” said Gangi. “And perhaps contributing to creating a political climate where mainstream politicians are more willing to enact fundamental change.”
Last summer, PROP undertook such a project. Released in May, the findings delineate the city’s policing history, dating as far back as the Municipal Police of the 1800s and as recently as the current Eric Adams administration. Through 63 pages, all sourced and annotated, the report delves into how policing came to be in the “Big Apple”
The report heavily highlights the relationship between New York City police and the Black residents they serve, dating back to the 1800s New York Kidnapping Club, a circle of “fugitive” slave-catchers and pre-NYPD cops who snatched and sold Black New Yorkers into southern bondage. A later excerpt details the Amsterdam News’ reporting on the regular police brutality lawsuits against the NYPD in Harlem during the 1950s.
To highlight the report’s release, PROP hosted a forum in Harlem last month, featuring a trio of prominent local police critics: Prof. Alex Vitale, VOCAL-NY’s Keli Young, and Citizen Action NY’s Stanley Fritz.
The panelists directly addressed and frequently opposed procedural reforms birthed out of highly publicized police brutality cases. Vitale—whose book “The End of Policing” angered Sen. Ted Cruz during Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation—was particularly scathing toward band-aid policies like sensitivity training and recruitment drives in Black and brown communities. Instead, he argued that real action came from sustained efforts by the public to hold police accountable.
“The reality is that this work is happening all across the country,” said Vitale. “People are organizing, minds are being changed, and you can just see it in the discourse.”
While the speakers floated abolitionist perspectives, Gangi is quick to distinguish himself from such movements. He instead believes in severely downsizing the NYPD, reducing both police funding and its role in maintaining public safety.
Typically, PROP is found in courtrooms, monitoring arraignments for a better understanding of who goes through the city’s incarceration system. From late April through early to mid-May, the watchdogs found that more than 90% of cases they observed in Manhattan and the Bronx were against New Yorkers of color.
Like the report and Vitale’s organizing, Gangi sees every step at PROP, which he founded in 2011, as an opportunity to win more hearts and minds. That includes his mayoral run against incumbent Bill de Blasio in 2017 for the Democratic party nomination. Gangi said his candidacy, although probably dead on arrival, was an opportunity to shine light on “broken windows policing” and NYPD racial bias under the then-current administration. Getting into the debates allowed him to voice such concerns. The only problem?
“I found out you had to raise $175,000 to qualify for the debates,” said Gangi. “If you didn’t reach that amount, you’re not going to be in [any] debates. I’m glad I ran for mayor. At the same time, it ended in frustration, not because I lost, but because I didn’t get a chance to play the public education [role] that I had hoped for.”
The main purpose of writing the report, Gangi said, “is how do we as advocates and organizers effectively educate the public about the abusive practices of NYPD to such an extent that the public would support and make sure politicians will be willing to enact fundamental changes that are needed to change [and] end those practices?”
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
