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POLICING & THE COURTS

I will vote to reallocate portions of the NYPD budget to anti-violence community based organizations, mental health services and the Department of Education. I’ll seek to build a coalition to encourage the Manhattan DA to implement court reforms. I’ll vote to legalize marijuana, close Rikers and vote no on budgets to build new jails. So many people that I grew up with are behind bars right now that I think about it everyday - it could have been me. As a teenager, I was in a crowd of young Black people at a casual night out at the movie theater that the police SWAT team treated like a riot mob. The status quo is unacceptable, our current system of public safety is killing Black people, who should still be alive today, with impunity. We must change it. I commit to supporting the following measures:

  • Vote to cut NYPD spend and reallocate funding to anti-violence community based organizations, social services and the Department of Education  

  • Support community policing 

  • Support to reform NYPD DNA database which has been used to collect DNA from minors and people of color who have never been accused of crimes

  • Support creation of Elected Civilian Review Board to investigate police misconduct

  • Call on the NYPD to reduce arrests for ticketable offenses

  • Fight to uphold chokehold ban

  • Build coalition to encourage the Manhattan District Attorney to implement a variety of court reform recommendations issued by Judicial Friends Association

  • Support the legalization of recreational marijuana in a way that ensures Black communities strongly benefit from the new tax revenue generated 

  • Support the end of qualified immunity and indemnification clauses with regard to police union contracts

  • Call on the NYPD to focus resources on combating white collar crime

  • Close Rikers and don’t build any new jails

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