Broome-Tioga NAACP, Urban League of Broome County, and Broome County YWCA call for passage of the Police Modernization law
June 17, 2015 – Binghamton, NY – Tonight at the Binghamton City Council Business meeting representatives from the Broome Tioga NAACP, the Urban League of Broome County and the Broome County YWCA will read statements during the public comment session endorsing the Police Modernization Law currently being discussed in the Municipal and Public Affairs Committee.
The legislation, drafted by the Binghamton Human Rights Commission, which has been in committee since February, has four objectives: (1) to affirm that racial profiling by law enforcement is illegal in the City of Binghamton; (2) mandate the tracking, analysis and reporting of all traffic and pedestrian stops by the police; (3) mandate comprehensive annual in-service cultural competency, implicit bias, and procedural justice training of local law enforcement; and (4) require the police administration to develop and present a plan to diversify the department. Once moved to the floor, a series of public hearings will be scheduled.
The right of the Binghamton City Council to pass legislation related to police conduct, such as the Police Modernization Law, is supported by New York State law. This was confirmed by the New York Civil Liberties Union in a conversation with the Binghamton Human Rights Commission. They stated “the home rule provision of the New York State Constitution confers broad police power on local governments to legislate to address local affairs and government issues as long as it does not conflict with the Constitution or a state law” and pointed to New York City’s Community Safety Act (a law banning racial profiling by the NYPD) as a precedent. The Community Safety Act, which was signed into law in January 2014, goes beyond the reforms being proposed by the Police Modernization Law and was endorsed by over 100 human services and civil rights organizations (many of them state-wide and national).
Binghamton City Council’s business meeting starts at 6:30pm in City Council Chambers at Binghamton City Hall.
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Other Resources
Several organizations have issued statements or guidelines for drafting and passage of laws related to bias-based policing and racial profiling. For example:
The NAACP and Amnesty International have suggested that such a law should include:
1. A comprehensive effective ban on racial profiling.
2. Bans on pre-textual stops (those instances in which police use minor/common traffic violations to inquire about drugs, guns, or other breaches of the law) of pedestrians and motorists.
3. Criminalizes violations of the racial profiling ban and specify penalties for officers who repeatedly engage in racial profiling.
4. Mandatory data collection for all stops and all searches (traffic and pedestrian)
5. Data analysis and publication of the data collected to complaints of racial profiling and regularly publish results of racial profiling investigations.
6. An independent commission to review and respond to complaints of racial profiling and regularly publish results of racial profiling investigations.
7. Allows for individuals to seek court orders to stop individual departments from continuing to engage in racial profiling.
8. Provide funds for periodically retraining officers and installing in-car video cameras for monitoring traffic stops.
The National Urban League has called for:
1. Widespread use of body cameras and dashboard cameras
2. Broken windows reform and implementation of 21st century community policing model
3. Review and revision of police use of deadly force policies
4. Comprehensive retraining of all police officers
5. Comprehensive review and strengthening of police hiring standards
6. Appointment of special prosecutors to investigate police misconduct
7. Mandatory, uniform FBI reporting and audit of lethal force incidents involving all law enforcement
8. Creation and audit of national citizen database of complaints against police
9. Adoption of national police accreditation system for mandatory use by law enforcement to be eligible for federal funds
10. National comprehensive anti-racial profiling law
Quotes
“A diverse law enforcement agency can better develop relationships with the community it serves, promote trust in the fairness of law enforcement, and facilitate effective policing by encouraging citizen support and cooperation. Law enforcement agencies should seek to hire a diverse workforce.”
-U.S. Department of Justice
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/Diversity_in_Law_Enforcement_Literature_Review.pdf
“Ban racial profiling by the police… [and] mandate that all police departments collect and report data on a quarterly basis on police shootings, and other deaths in custody, as well as stops, frisks, searches, citations, arrests, and uses of force.”
– American Civil Liberties Union
https://action.aclu.org/secure/DOJ-racial-profiling
“The NBPA also support legislation that holds the governmental entity, its police department and offending officers liable for violating the civil rights of our citizenry. The NBPA also supports mandated and uniform data collection and analysis to research and abate adverse impact; educate the police and the public and to develop policy and procedures designed to correct and discipline deviance.”
-National Black Police Association
http://www.blackpolice.org/positions.html