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New York lawmakers voted on Tuesday to repeal a decades-old law that shields police officers' disciplinary records from the public. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said he will sign the bill into law amid nationwide protests against police brutality.
The bill is part of a package of police reform measures advanced by the Democratic-controlled Assembly and Senate in Albany this week as protests gripped the nation following the death of George Floyd,an African American man, after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for minutes even when Floyd had been handcuffed and pinned to the ground.
Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York President Pat Lynch speaks as he and representatives from other New York City Police Department (NYPD) and law enforcement unions hold a news conference in New York City, U.S., June 9, 2020. /Reuters
On Monday, the legislature voted to ban the use of chokeholds by police. The practice had already come under intense condemnation when an African-American man, Eric Garner, died after a white New York City police officer used a chokehold on him during a 2014 arrest.
Advocates for police accountability have long been pushing for the repeal of the contentious section of New York's Civil Rights Law, 50-a, that prevented disclosure to the public of disciplinary records of police officers.
"The legislation that will be passed over the coming days will help stop bad actors and send a clear message that brutality, racism, and unjustified killings will not be tolerated," New York Senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement.
New York police unions have called the legislation an attack on the police.
"The message has been sent very clearly to police officers by our elected officials: We don't like you," Richard Wells, president of the statewide union the Police Conference of New York, told reporters. "We don't respect you. We will not support you. We want you to go away."
He said the repeal of 50-a would enable criminal defense attorneys to cite old complaints against an officer in court to undermine the officer's testimony.
The New York City Council was also considering a bill to criminalize the use of chokeholds, which has widespread support among lawmakers but is opposed in its current form by the mayor.
Washington, DC approves police reforms
Meanwhile, the district council for Washington, DC also approved Tuesday a raft of police reforms.
The emergency legislation, approved by a unanimous vote, bars the use of neck restraints, such as the one used against Floyd, and requires the release of names and images from officers' body cameras after "an officer-involved death or the serious use of force."
It also prohibits the Metropolitan Police Department from hiring people with a documented history of police misconduct and places limits on non-deadly force and the police department's acquisition of military weaponry, among other measures.
"There's no question whatsoever about whether we have to significantly reform our policing. The only question is whether we and our policing leadership are ready to step up to that challenge," said district council member Robert White.
In a statement read by the council's chairman, Phil Mendelson, Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was supportive of the legislation but thought there should be a public discussion.
DC police chief Peter Newsham told a news conference Monday the department had already made a number of reforms in the past two decades and would discuss concerns it had with Charles Allen, the council member who introduced the legislation.
Most Americans support the protests, which have been largely peaceful, and disapprove of U.S. President Donald Trump's reaction to them.
In 2001, the U.S. Justice Department found Washington, DC's Metropolitan Police Department had a pattern or practice of excessive force as well as other issues. The investigation led to federal oversight of the department, including the appointment of an independent monitor, until 2012.
(Cover image: A sign painted by protesters stating "Defund the Police" is painted next to a Black Lives Matter sign as people demonstrate against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, near the White House in Washington, DC, U.S., June 7, 2020. /Reuters)
(REUTERS)
