This archive report was first published on 18 June 2020.
Published on June 18, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a series of changes to the New York City Police Department's discipline procedures, amidst growing pressure to overhaul the department's tactics and curb its authority.
The changes include the creation of a database to track the approximately 1,100 pending cases involving allegations of police abuse, which will include the officers' names and the charges. The city will also publish all internal trial decisions and eventually make all disciplinary records, past and present, accessible online.
These announcements come after weeks of mass demonstrations in New York City, sparked by the Police Department's sometimes violent crowd-control tactics. The mayor's rhetoric on the issue helped propel him to office in 2013.
De Blasio has also signaled his intention to rethink the Police Department's budget and role in the city. He has pledged to cut police funding, although he has balked at the City Council's proposal to slash $1 billion. The mayor is now embracing a City Council bill that would ban law enforcement's use of chokeholds, after years of resisting the proposal.
“I'm listening. I'm acting,” De Blasio said. “I feel what people are saying. Things have to change, they are changing and they will change more.”
De Blasio's actions come after the State Legislature's repeal of the law known as 50-a, which his administration interpreted to shield records of police misconduct. The mayor made the announcements without the presence of his police commissioner, Dermot F. Shea, who will be charged with implementing the new policies.
Police reformers were dubious in their initial response to De Blasio's announcements, given his history of obstructing change in the department. Communities United for Police Reform, an advocacy group, accused the mayor on Twitter of making “empty statements without detail.”
