NYC Council: NYPD must be held accountable

At the NYC Council: NYPD Must Be Held Accountable hearing held virtually and in-person on March 1, members scrutinized the purpose and practices of the New York Police Department’s Strategic Response Group (NYPD SRG).

As part of the NYPD Special Operations Bureau, the SRG is a unit that “responds to citywide mobilizations, civil disorders, and major events with highly trained personnel and specialized equipment,” according to the agency website. Officers in the unit are also sent to areas requiring increased police presence.

This contradicts the original mission of the unit, which was to combat terrorism. NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, in his opening remarks, expressed his disappointment with the agency not showing up, and many Council members did the same.

“I do think just being present, even if it was to read the statement that was submitted, would have shown some respect to the process and to having this conversation in a public forum,” Williams said.

He then shared some of his interactions with the unit at protests including SRG, Occupy Wall Street, and the George Floyd protests of 2020.

“The SRG beat protestors with batons; sprayed crowds with pepper spray; rammed into protestors on their bikes; entrapped protestors using barriers such as shields, bikes, and metal gates with no way for people to escape (a tactic known as “kettling”); and blasted crowds with noise cannons,” he added.

Screen grab of NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams giving his opening remarks during the hearing. Photo by Milette Millington

Following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, MN, the NYPD Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) released its 2020 Protest Report last month. (full report: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/ccrb/downloads/pdf/policy_pdf/issue_based/2020NYCProtestReport.pdf).

According to page 6 of the report, “of 321 protest complaints received, 226 were investigated. Of those investigated, 88 complaints of misconduct were determined by the Board based on evidence.”

Interim CCRB Chair Arva Rice and CCRB Executive Director Jonathan Darche were also in attendance at the hearing. A key takeaway from their testimony, according to Rice, was that the NYPD “continues deviating from CCRB recommendations.”

Given the evidence since then, 21 Council Members, including Jennifer Gutierrez, Shahana Hanif, Sandy Nurse, Chi Osse, Tiffany Caban, and Althea Stevens, issued a letter in support of disbanding the SRG on January 20 of this year.

“The SRG’s brutality, bias, and lack of transparency makes the SRG a threat to the safety and First Amendment rights of New Yorkers. We must combat that threat by disbanding the unit, reinvesting its bloated budget into resources and care for communities, and ensuring that the unit and its harmful tactics are not recreated under another name,” members stated.

Various activists and advocacy groups echoed this sentiment in a statement released by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU).

Screen grab of NYC Council Public Safety Committee Chairwoman Kamillah Hanks giving remarks to start the hearing. Photo by Milette Millington

NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said,  “City lawmakers must disband the SRG and its funds should be reinvested to serve, and not harm, New Yorkers. Militarized police forces do not belong in our streets.”

Eric Vassell, father of Saheed Vassell, a New Yorker who was killed by the NYPD on April 4, 2014, and member of the Justice Committee, also shared his perspective.

“Rather than continuing to pour tens of millions of dollars into the SRG, this dangerous unit must be disbanded and those funds must be invested in services like quality mental healthcare that our communities need and deserve,” said Vassell.

Lori Zeno, executive director of Queens Defenders, echoed Lieberman and Vassell, saying that funding for the SRG should be redirected to initiatives that “address the needs of clients targeted by our criminal legal system including mental health and substance use treatment, access to safe and affordable housing, education and job training, and meaningful diversion programs.”

A screen grab of Isabelle Leyva, an organizer at the New York Civil Liberties Union, testifying on behalf of the organization at the hearing.

Co-Founder & CEO of Strategy for Black Lives, Frantzy Luzincourt, added to these sentiments, saying, “We need to immediately disband the SRG and prioritize investing in our communities and developing non carceral solutions to public safety instead of relying on the same violent strategies that have continuously harmed communities. Especially those that are Black, people of color, and low income communities. Enough is enough and we must do better!”

Those interested can learn more about the NYCLU’s campaigns to transform policing here: https://www.nyclu.org/en/campaigns/transforming-nypd.

Find your NYC Council member here: https://council.nyc.gov/map-widget/.

Information on future NYC Council hearings can be found here: https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/Calendar.aspx.