Yung-Mi Lee, Director of Law & Appeals in the Criminal defense Practice, writes about the NYPD’s ongoing lack of accountability, the impact of plea waivers on police oversight, and the legislative solutions that could help restore justice.

"In New York, prosecutors often require a person accused of a crime to waive their right to later appeal their case as part of a plea offer, even if new evidence is later revealed. These waivers prevent appellate courts from reviewing police misconduct and overseeing police accountability."

...

"Of course, this legislation is only one piece of dismantling the racist and abusive practice of pretextual stops and officer misconduct. We must also end the use of surveillance technologies that perpetuate stop-and-frisk, such as the NYPD’s Gang Database and Shotspotter. We must end 'specialized' rogue units like Neighborhood Safety Teams that engage in a startling amount of illegal stops. And we must give the CCRB more power to hold officers accountable, as it is clear the NYPD is unwilling to police itself."


Read the full op-ed here.