January 19, 2021

Contact: Daniel Ball, Brooklyn Defender Services (dball@bds.org)

Brooklyn Defender Services Statement on the Adoption of NYPD’s Discipline Matrix

(BROOKLYN, NY) - Today, Maryanne Kaishian, Senior Policy Counsel of Brooklyn Defender Services, released the following statement in response to the announcement of NYPD’s newly adopted Discipline Matrix policy:

“As people across this city and country continue to come together to demand an end to police violence against Black people and other people of color, New York City responded with an ‘NYPD Discipline Matrix’ that fails to meet these demands. The ‘Discipline Matrix’ merely condenses and reorganizes the rules in the NYPD’s Patrol Guide and leaves final disciplinary power with the NYPD Commissioner. Both the Patrol Guide and the Commissioner have long failed to prevent or discourage police brutality and misconduct. Just last night, video captured the NYPD brutalizing dozens of New Yorkers participating in a march on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This morning, as the Mayor touted the release of this document promoting transparency, the NYPD was in the Second Circuit engaging in oral arguments to oppose the release of police disciplinary records despite the repeal of 50-a. We know, and this reform shows, that the NYPD will never police itself. New York needs truly binding measures of police accountability, not toothless matrices with loopholes that allow the NYPD to excuse abusive conduct. Most importantly, New York City must start divesting from law enforcement and invest in the needs of people who live here instead.”

Background

In September 2020, Brooklyn Defender Services submitted public comment opposing the adoption of NYPD’s proposed Discipline Matrix policy.

Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) is a public defender organization serving tens of thousands of Brooklyn residents each year since 1996. Our mission is to provide high-quality and client-centered criminal, family, immigration, and civil legal representation, as well as social work support and advocacy for people who cannot afford an attorney.

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