Police Reform and Reinvention

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



Stay Woke Meeting - Police Interrogation

Any young person facing a police interrogation has the legal right to ask for a lawyer before answering questions. Youth have faced coercive police interrogation tactics for decades. The problem is particularly acute for youth of color. This was the main focus of this week's Stay Woke meeting, The youth Interrogation Bill. This Amends procedures required for the custodial interrogation of children to provide additional protections and for taking juveniles into custody. This has been a continuous problem in our society and along with the members of this meeting, I also believe there should be a solution that comes with evident change and progress. After reading these reports, you the reader(s) will most likely have the same opinions as the writers. 

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Today we did an icebreaker, for the icebreaker we had to introduce ourselves as usual and state our favorite borough . I introduced myself and said my favorite borough is Brooklyn because that is where I am raised and where I grew up.  After that we watched a video documentary about police interrogation  . The video I saw was police interrogating a teenager . The police were also aggressively questioning the teenager . The teenager more than likely is not educated on his rights to remain silent and the police doesn’t seem too concerned about his rights . I feel like we should be taught more about our rights in school . That teenager wasn’t being supervised by an adult nor a lawyer. After the video We were asked what we thought about it . This also reminded me of something I had to watch in school for an assignment . For my anthropology class we had to watch a video that spoke about the dark side of the 13 amendment which abolished slavery but also allowed it as punishment in prisons . Also the “war on drugs” , which caused many African Americans to be incarcerated . Many of them were teens ranging from as young as thirteen to their early twenties . Things like the story we were shown happen all the time without being shown to the media . The media needs to cover and bring awareness to things like this so we can work on fixing and changing policies that allow things like this to happen .  

—Raphael Moreau

10/22/20

  During this zoom meeting we talked about how we are going to start a campaign for a bill. The bill name is youth Interrogation Bill. They ask us why this bill is important. I said that this bill is important because it will help kids be more aware of their rights and it will also stop the police from abusing their power. They then asked us what we thought was going to happen when this bill comes into effect. I said once it comes into effect people will be aware of their rights and the police won't be able to try to intimidate kids into doing what they want. 

We also talked about why it is important to vote. They said how our votes matter and how the youths need to vote because we are the next generation so we need to fight for our rights. We then started to brainstorm names for the campaign. We came up with quite a few names but the one that stood out the most was 2young2talk. I like this one better because it was short so a lot of people can remember and it has a good meaning to it. We then said how we should post more about this campaign on social media to get more people aware of this. We then watched a video about how the youths vote will impact the 2020 election. I found this video quite interesting because it talked about how a majority of the young people were in favor of trump getting re-elected. This showed that we have to educate the youth on how these candidates will impact our Community not just following what other people do. 

—Gabriel Moreau

10/30/20

This meeting we talked about the youth interrogation bill and Miranda rights.  As we discussed before when cops apprehend individuals they are supposed to state their rights . For example they say " You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.  Rather police are starting to bribe and get early/ forced confessions out of people which may get them wrongfully convicted for crimes . The main group of people being affected by this are teenagers . This is why we decide to start a campaign and create a social media hashtag to bring awareness to this because many young teens don't know about this at all . We made a list on whether the sayings would be powerful , clear and also brief so it  can be easily remembered.   The options we had were Protect and serve our Miranda rights , No youth interrogation without legal representation,  # 2Young2Talk, #Right2RemainSilent and # WhyITalked . The last two we came to an agreement on was #2Young2Talk and #Right2RemainSilent. I decided on the later one because it gets to the point and it is a popular saying when it comes to police apprehending people . It also is easy to understand and one of the Miranda rights that we have . After we voted we ended up choosing #2Young2Talk . This is a valid saying as well because it gets to the point even more thoroughly because the issue is youth interrogation and teens are two young to talk and also more likely to get convicted because of police poking at them without an adult or a legal lawyer being there .

—Raphael Moreau

10/30/20 








The closing of Rikers Island and it being compared to a Dungeon

Rikers Island is a 413.17-acre island in the East River between Queens and the Bronx that is home to New York City's main jail complex. In May 2013, Rikers Island ranked as one of the ten worst correctional facilities in the United States. Violence on Rikers Island has been increasing in recent years. In 2015 there were 9,424 assaults, the highest number in five years. A lawsuit has landed a decisive blow to Bill de Blasio’s plan to replace Rikers Island with a smaller network of borough-based jails. New York City lawmakers voted to close the notorious Rikers Island jail complex and is scheduled to shutter by 2026, ending a decades-long run as one of the world's largest jails. Some of our crew members joined a meeting based on these facts and charged their opinions on the meeting. It’s very essential to be aware of what’s going on in our Country and they have the opportunity to do so. 

During this zoom meeting we had some new people so we did some icebreakers. We just introduce ourselves and talk about what we do and the group we are a part of. They then asked us what animal we would be. I said a cheetah because I have a lot of energy and I am always running around. We then started to talk about how Rikers Island was going to close. They then ask us why we think Rikers should be close. People said how the environment was not good and people were not being treated well. They wanted to reduce the number of people at Rikers. We had Sarita Daftary-steel tell us about what was happening there. She said everyone had to share a bathroom and that the place was not clean. People in there could easily catch covid from being in there. We then started to watch a video about people's experience in Rikers. The people in the video talk about the fact that they were treated unfairly and compared it to a dungeon. They then start to talk about their plan to try to change that. There is a campaign to try to close Rikers and to try to have a community center to help people that are going through this kind of thing. They then ask us what we thought of the video. I said that the people in Rikers were treated poorly and how we need to get more people to be aware of what is happening there. I also said that we need to change how Rikers are and to make it better. We then tried to think of a name for the campaign. 

—By: Gabriel Moreau


During the Stay Woke meeting, we talked mainly about Rikers Island and us as young black teens to know our rights. There are plans to shut down Rikers Island due to its unfair treatment to its inmates. The first goal was to reduce the number of people actually incarcerated in Rikers Island from 10,000 and cut that in half. This goal was met but mostly due to Covid-19. Rikers Island now only holds about 3,000-4,000 people as of right now. People are still concerned for the people still incarcerated in Rikers Island because of the mistreatment they are receiving. They want to make sure that these inmates are being treated fairly enough to survive there. The second goal was to open up the prisons in Brooklyn and Queens so that the inmates families would be able to see them more often. As you know Rikers Island is... exactly in its name an island. It’s miles away from the city and makes it difficult for most families to come and visit their families that are incarcerated. The only problem with the prisons in Brooklyn and Queens is that they are filled with dust and mold. That wouldn’t be a very good living situation for prisoners because that could end up leading to health problems since dust and mold carry lots of bacteria. They want to try and clean the prisons so that they could have a more comfortable living situation. We as a community have to come together to address the problems at hand. We need to keep speaking out, marching and making sure our voices are heard.

—By: Brandon Lino


In this meeting we first introduced ourselves to new members and did a little icebreaker.  They asked us the usual things, like to put in the chat your group name but today they decided to also have us talk about animals. They asked us if we had to choose an animal to be, or an animal that represented us, what would that animal be. At first I was just going to say a cool and popular animal like a lion, but then I actually put some thought into it and decided something else. When it was my turn to say what animal represents me I decided to say an eagle for me. This is because they can fly and they are free. Which also symbolizes freedom and relief for all of your problems which is a point where I dream to achieve in life. After that we watched a video about Rikers Island. People should be aware of the conditions in Rikers. We need to think about investment in mental health, investment in housing. We need to create a better system that secures our safety. We also talked about camping names and group names. We had to come up with something attention grabbing. Someone suggested Rights are right / wrong is wrong. They also talked about how it is easier for people in these prisons to catch COVID. Living in Rikers was compared to a dungeon and it was said to be dangerous living there, some of the inmates were treated inhumanely and a lot of them started developing mental health issues. There is a campaign to close Rikers down and to also start to build a community center to help people that are going through this kind of thing. 

—By: Raphael Moreau