NEW YORK - New York state took an important step forward Friday toward ending controversial policing tactics with the signing into law of legislation prohibiting the use of chokeholds and expanding police transparency.
“The truth is this: Police reform is long overdue,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said, speaking about George Floyd, the African American man whose death in police custody last month has sparked nationwide protests and calls for racial justice. Cases similar to Floyd's, the governor said, have occurred “many, many times before.”
The New York state legislature quickly passed the law, which the governor signed Friday in New York City in the presence of Valerie Bell and Gwen Carr, the mothers of Sean Bell and Eric Garner, two New Yorkers who also died in police-involved incidents.
The law prohibits police from using chokeholds on suspects, a controversial tactic linked to the death of several suspects, including Garner.
“It was a long time coming, but it came, thank you all very much,” Gwen Carr said after the governor signed the bill.
FILE - Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, addresses media at the public viewing of George Floyd, in Houston, Texas, June 8, 2020. Standing on the left is the Reverend Al Sharpton and on the right is attorney Ben Crump.
The new law also ends a law known as 50-A, which shielded police disciplinary records from scrutiny. Advocates of abolishing the law said it would both shed light on bad cops’ records, as well as help good cops defend themselves if they had a complaint-free history and were accused of a crime or inappropriate action.
In addition, the legislation empowers the state’s attorney general to become the independent prosecutor in the killings of unarmed civilians by the police.
The governor is also issuing an executive order requiring the state’s local police departments to develop reform plans with community input and to enshrine them in local law by April 1, 2021, or risk losing state funding.
“We are not going to fund police agencies in this state that do not look at what has been happening, come to terms with it and reform themselves,” Cuomo said. “We are not going to be, as a state government, subsidizing improper police tactics.”
Cuomo said he understands the message of protesters — that there is a lack of trust between the community and the police. He said police must work with their communities to address such issues as use of force by officers, community policing and bias.
The governor acknowledged there is still more to do, that Friday’s action is a first step, and he hopes New York’s action will be an example for other U.S. states to follow.