At a City Council oversight hearing on NYPD discipline and the Civilian Complaint Review Board, Senior Policy Counsel Jacqueline Gosdigian urged Council Members to confront the crisis of rising deaths in NYPD custody and take immediate action to curb illegal in-custody arrests. The testimony includes a range of recommendations, from ending broken windows policing to expanding medical care in court and central booking, enhancing CCRB authority, and canceling the NYPD’s contract with ShotSpotter.

"Police transparency is an essential measure for holding the NYPD, and other law enforcement agencies, accountable for the discriminatory and abusive policing practices they employ. Discriminatory and abusive policing practices make all New Yorkers less safe. Practices like stop and frisk, for example, disproportionately impact Black and brown New Yorkers, LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers, and New Yorkers experiencing homelessness. A Report to the US District Court on Police Misconduct and Discipline by Hon. James Yates, dated September 19, 2024 (“Discipline Report”) stressed that, while the NYPD does expand resources and effort to investigate “misconduct claims in general…the same cannot be said of disciplinary efforts regarding compliance with the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments." The report went on to further point out that “[d]iscipline for illegal stops and frisks, even when substantiated by CCRB, is not pursued with the same vigor and resolve as for other misconduct.” What’s more, “[p]enalties for wrongdoing involving stops, questions, frisks, or searches of persons (‘SQFS’) even when repeated, are rare.""

Read the full testimony here.