De Blasio Staffers Rally Outside City Hall To Demand NYPD Reform

NEW YORK CITY — Hundreds of Mayor Bill de Blasio's current and former staffers will rally outside City Hall Monday morning to demand NYPD policy reforms, the group announced.

The protest comes after de Blasio — facing mounting pressure from New Yorkers, lawmakers and staffers during a week of sometimes bloody protests — promised reforms that include transferring an undisclosed amount from the city's $6 billion NYPD budget over to summer youth programming.

"While we welcome this change of tone, we want to make clear these latest moves do not meet our demands," protest organizers wrote.

"The Mayor’s minimization of the NYPD’s handling of this current crisis is an insult to New Yorkers who continue to experience violence at the hands of the NYPD."

To keep up to date with coronavirus developments in NYC, sign up for Patch's news alerts and newsletter.

De Blasio announced on June 7 four NYPD reforms in the wake of massive protests over the killing of George Floyd and police brutality.

• Shift funds from NYPD to youth and social services
• Repeal the 50-a police disciplinary records law
• Give civilians control over vendor enforcement
• Set up community ambassadors within NYPD leadership

"This is a transformative moment, so the actions today are a beginning," the mayor said. "I expect you to see and feel a different reality in the NYPD and in this city as a whole."

But the promise of reform to come did little to quell the outrage of about 500 staffers expected to demonstrate outside City Hall at 10 a.m. then cross the Brooklyn Bridge for a rally at Cadman Plaza.

"Despite these symbolic gestures and platitudes, his own words contradict his calls for reform," organizers wrote in a press release email.

"The Mayor’s decision to first focus on looting and the destruction of property is a deflection from the systemic violent racism and abuse that persists under his watch."

Floyd's death — caught on video that shows Minnesota Officer Derek Chauvin with his knee on the gasping man's neck — was grimly reminiscent of Eric Garner, who died after Officer Daniel Pantaleo put him in a chokehold.

But while Chauvin was charged with murder days later, de Blasio refused for five years to fire Pantaleo, spurring the staffers to demand increased transparency, independent review boards and a $1 billion NYPD budget cut.

These are the staffer's demands:

• Reduce the NYPD operating budget by $1 billion in Fiscal Year 2021, and reallocate that money to essential social services, including housing support and rental relief, food assistance, and health care, in alignment with the demands of the NYC Budget Justice campaign.
• Immediately fire all NYPD officers found to have used excessive force—or to have covered their badges—at protests.
• Release the names and official disciplinary records of all NYPD personnel who have been accused of using excessive force, covering their badge numbers, or other misconduct and repeal Section 50-a. Section 50-a has become an insurmountable barrier to press and public access to law enforcement records of police misconduct in New York.
• Appoint an independent commission, in the vein of the Knapp and Mollen Commissions, composed of civil rights attorneys, journalists, and activists, including abolitionist organizers, to investigate the response of the Mayor’s Office and the NYPD to the May and June 2020 protests against police violence.
• Require a two-thirds vote of the City Council to ever institute a curfew again and require a two-thirds vote of the City Council to approve the Police Commissioner.

Coronavirus In NYC: Latest Happenings And Guidance

Email PatchNYC@patch.com to reach a Patch reporter or fill out this anonymous form to share your coronavirus stories. All messages are confidential.