Recently, there has been a collective meeting between the NYPD of each department as well as the inner community people. Within this listening session, there was a main goal that the police department yearns to obtain which is to gain the trust of the people they protect back. The Department has taken a wide initiative at aiming to reform their way of policing in New York city. Because of this, the police within the meeting brainstorm new ideas of how they can keep people safe without violating the rules set up for them, causing the people in our communities to not feel any tension between themselves and the police.

Firstly, as the listening session plays out, they establish various ideas on how they could properly continue policing without harming or violating the peace between them and the people they are sworn to protect. Some of the ideas were collaborative policing, increased non enforcement options, creative crime reduction strategies, and community/government advocate relationships. In order for these ideas to be enacted, they find instant and refurbished training to be necessary, whether it be blended training or virtual(online platform). These training programs will include crisis intervention training, implicit bias training, and investigative encounter training. Not only that, but within the meeting, it was stated that “the current police department training we are coming up with aims to reduce the necessary amount of force needed to keep others safe.” This is a very significant goal of change as it can help to reduce many casualties or injuries of criminals or even civilians within our communities when encountering an intense situation. This can also allow for the reduced reports of police shootings. Another police duty that is being reformed is the “stop, question, and frisky” law that many cops use it to interrogate anyone deemed suspicious. Over 700,000 citizens have been faced with these preliminary investigations while showing no criminal intentions. Although this may seem as processional policing, it unnecessarily violates the privacy of an everyday citizen within New York. A reform on this training and mandatory investigation could lead to trust being gradually brought back between Police Officers/Law enforcers and Citizens.

To conclude, these various ideas of reforms being presented in this meeting are aimed at bettering society as a whole. Instead of unauthorized and excessive use of police power, the Police Departments can improve their law enforcing system with disciplinary guidelines as well as reducing the excess actions taken to regulate the crimes with NY. Overall, this can allow for the citizens of the city to be able to have more trust in the police as well as reduce the excess amount of police brutality and incorrect use of the law enforcing power given to many police officers, making New York a better place.

—By: Gbenga Akinrosoye

During last week's NYPD Youth Reform I was highly disappointed with the way it was handled and it didn’t seem professional at times. We put our trust in the NYPD and when some comments were made they laughed at it. What really surprised me is when the police commissioner addressed black people as “you people”. When I heard that it felt like somebody spit on my face and I couldn’t do anything about it. That showed me that the commissioner doesn’t have the same respect for black people that he has for others. I think next time they need to be more mindful of their words. One thing that stood out to me was that it was more like us asking them questions and them not answering. I felt like that defeated the purpose of meeting. The point of it was for the NYPD to hear the YOUTHS opinions on what police could do better. Marwa and I were the only youth that got a chance to speak and get our points out, but it felt pointless because the questions we asked weren’t even answered. They were answered with “Good comment” and the next person was asked to ask their question. The NYPD were asked about Covid-19 questions 5 times last night and not one time were they answered. It felt like they were avoiding answering questions all night. They didn’t even try to make an effort to even make a short statement or say they would get back to us via email. I feel like the police department should do a better job next time to have a more professional meeting dedicated to the youth.

—By: Brandon Lino