The New York City Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative plan outlines a major step forward in New York City’s efforts to confront and combat the terrible legacy of racialized policing. This report and plan for new action were born out of the protest movement and renewed calls for police reform across the country that arose following May 25, 2020, when the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis shocked our national conscience. This plan is also written in recognition of our long and painful history, which includes the deaths of Anthony Baez, Amadou Diallo, Ousmane Zango, Sean Bell, Ramarley Graham, Patrick Dorismond, Akai Gurley, and Eric Garner, amongst others.
A foundation of this report is testimony we took from hundreds of people across the five boroughs, conveying the anxiety and pain they carry with them every waking hour—from a lifetime of being stopped and frisked multiple times, the trauma from being abused by the police as children, the destruction brought by a wrongful accusation, and the lasting damage to their prospects of getting a great education and fulfilling career that was done to them just because they grew up in an over-policed neighborhood.
The Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative plan addresses these and other concerns. It will help us to continue rooting out bias wherever and whenever it is found, and pursue a culture of just, transparent, and accountable policing. New York City has had years of transforming the culture of the NYPD, but these successes have not erased the weight of history. As we work together to continue to make progress and push forward major reforms, we also understand that we have not, nor can we, erase a 400-year legacy during one mayoralty, or as the result of one plan. The work of reform never ends, and we won’t stop where we are.