Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative

On June 12, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order (EO) 203, ordering all local governments that have police agencies to “perform a comprehensive review of current police force deployments, strategies, policies, procedures, and practices, and develop a plan to improve” them. The specific purposes for making changes are: “addressing the particular needs of the communities served by such police agency,” promoting “community engagement to foster trust, fairness, and legitimacy,” and addressing “any racial bias and disproportionate policing of communities of color.” The order sets a deadline of April 1, 2021, for adoption of plans. On August 19, 2020, Governor Cuomo announced a new Guidance concerning the collaborative groups being formed under EO 203. Among key stakeholders who “must be involved” is “the local public defender.” 

This page was intially intended to provide information and encouragement to public defenders and others participating in this effort. It now serves as a reference for evaluating efforts made under EO 204 and ongoing reform. Also relevant to this effort are resources on the Racial Justice and Equity webpage and client-centered representation rferences (see, for example, the Client-Centered Representation Standards). 

NYS Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative

• Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative website (includes plans adopted by local governments under EO 203 and the "Initial Report on Innovative Community Initiatives" [May 2021])

• EO 203 Websites and Plans, Government Law Center, Albany Law School
  

• Executive Order 203: New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative (June 12, 2020) [Appendix A]

• Report and Recommendations of the Task Force on Racial Injustice and Police Reform (NYS Bar Association, June 2021)

• New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative: Resources & Guide for Public Officials and Citizens (August 17, 2020)

• New York State Association of Counties webinar, Policing in 2020: What We’ve Learned and How Do We Change (September 16, 2020)
  • Watch Recording
    

Local Efforts and Resources

Resources created by localities where the public can review local Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative processes and later reform efforts.

• Onondaga County Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Website
  
• Saratoga Springs Police Reform Task Force Website
• Executive Order 203: Task Forces and Draft Police Reform Plans for Municipalities throughout New York State (Albany Law School - Government Law Center)
• Putnam County Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Website
• Tompkins County Police Reform and Reinvention Collaboarative Website

Police Department Policies

New York Civil Liberties Union, Behind the Badge: “In this portal you can find out what policies – or lack of – the police departments in your neighborhood and in communities across New York are using, background on where the policies came from and what is good or bad about them, and how you can get involved to ensure we have equitable, transparent rules across all our police departments.”

New York Police Department (NYC)

• NYPD - Historical and Current Research: Policy and Procedures Manuals (John Jay College of Criminal Justice)
• NYPD Patrol Guide

Rochester Police Department 

• Open Data Portal

New York State Oversight and Standards

NYS Attorney General's Law Enforcement Misconduct Investigative Office (LEMIO)

New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, Office of Public Safety

New York State Municipal Police Training Council (MPTC)

• Identification Procedures: Photo Arrays and Line-ups, MPTC Model Policy (June 2017)
• Use of Force, MPTC Model Policy (September 2020)
• Recording of Custodial Interrogations, MPTC Model Policy (December 2013)

New York State Law Enforcement Agency Accreditation Council

• Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, Standards and Compliance Verification Manual (8th Edition, September, 2015; Revision 8.3, September 5, 2019)
  
• Accredited Agencies

Police Union Contracts

• Empire Center for Public Policy: SeeThroughNY updated with the latest union contracts (December 18, 2019)

• Empire Center for Public Policy: Cuomo’s ‘Reinvent Policing’ Order Dodges Confrontation with Police Unions (August 20, 2020)

• NAACP, Legal Defense Fund: Community Oversight of Police Union Contracts (August 2020)
  

Proposals for Transforming Crisis Intervention 

• Correct Crisis Intervention Today in NYC (CCIT-NYC): Fighting to Transform Responses to Mental Health Crises

• "A Model Act for a Behavioral Health Crisis Response," (September 8, 2020). Elon University Law Legal Studies Research Paper Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3683432