“Real change takes real resources,” said PAB Chair Shani Wilson. “For every $20 it currently spends on policing, we’re asking the City to invest at least $1 in accountability."
Richard Rivera fatally shot an NYPD officer in a Queens bar 40 years ago. He is now helping reform police in upstate New York as part of a state-mandated plan launched by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The state’s new massive criminal justice reform law coddles criminals and hammers cops.
The bill passed by a 220-212 vote. Texas Rep. Lance Gooden was the lone Republican to vote in favor of the bill, while two Democrats voted against it. Gooden said later he pressed the wrong button.
The bill would ban all neck restraints, including chokeholds and the kind used on Floyd as well as no-knock warrants in drug cases. It would also end the application of the doctrine of qualified immunity for law enforcement officers.
“We’ve got a lot of applicants in the lead up to this and now post bill signing from good, sharp, well-educated people of character who are currently serving as police officers in Illinois.”
While the bill requires body cameras, it does not allow officers to review their own footage before writing a report, which critics say puts them in an impossible position.
Some important specifics remain to be seen in practice, including how real-time decisions about when to summon police — who will still respond to calls involving a weapon or “imminent risk of harm” — will play out. And the union that represents the city’s EMTs says the city needs to make sure they’re safe before going ahead.
During her time on the force, Rosa Brooks responded to calls for a variety of serious issues, including domestic violence, robbery and shots fired. She also saw firsthand how trivial offenses sometimes resulted in arrest. The experience left her with a long list of ideas about how police departments could reform. But Brooks is quick to note that it's not just the police who need to change.
The legislation, which would have prohibited an officer from using sovereign or qualified immunity as a defense in court, was set aside to be studied by the Virginia Crime Commission.