June 3, 2020.  Like you, we watched in horror the incidents of police violence again unfolding this past week and over the weekend. The police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Police brutality during the protests that followed. It was a week of racism, this time recorded for all to see.

This country needs fundamental change. We reaffirm our solidarity with our client communities and staff members targeted by police violence and systemic racism. With people who risked their health, and perhaps their very lives, to express their grief and outrage. We remember George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. We remember Eric Garner and Deborah Danner, and so many other Black lives lost. We know that recent events are only symptoms of the deep-seated, systemic racism that pervades American society.

Community priorities and community voice drive our work. NYLPI continues to take action as an organizational ally in the fight for racial justice.

• Accountability. New York protects abusive officers with a secrecy law that hides police disciplinary records. We call on Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie to immediately reconvene the legislative session and pass Senator Bailey and Assembly Member O’Donnell’s bills (S3695/A2513) to repeal Civil Rights Law Section 50-A. Take action and call your state legislators today to ask them to #Repeal50A. Click here for call and tweet scripts.
• Transparency. All too often we have seen the disturbing difference it makes to have video of these incidents – because racism routinely undermines the realities described by people of color. The power of showing – in addition to telling – to achieve justice is one reason we have launched a series of legal challenges to make the NYPD release body-worn camera footage of our community members whom the police have shot.
• Crisis response. We continue to work for the complete reform of the City’s response to mental health crises, to have healthcare providers, rather than the police, aid in emergencies, and ensure that no additional individuals – primarily people of color – are killed by the NYPD.
• Budget justice. The Mayor recently proposed devastating cuts to core social services, jobs, programs and infrastructure that are crucial to communities of color. These communities have had a history of under-investment and now bear the brunt of the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis. But the enormous NYPD and Corrections budgets are largely untouched. We join the call for budget justice, with increased services and decreased policing

We commit to working with intentionality, awareness, and collective action to dismantle racism.

In solidarity,

McGregor Smyth
Executive Director