NY Cop Reforms? The Whole System Has to Go!
https://socialistaction.org/2020/07/09/ny-cop-reforms-the-whole-system-has-to-go/
July 9, 2020
By MARTY GOODMAN
Tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, have been in the streets
across New York State – despite the Covid-19 pandemic – to protest the
murder of George Floyd and innumerable other victims of racist police.
Thus far, a few victories have been won but what has been gained can
also be lost as long as the monster of racist capitalism remains.
In New York City, a cynical game was played out on anti-racist forces –
and in particular the African American, Hispanic and oppressed
communities – by the administration of the “progressive” Mayor Bill de
Blasio and the Democratic Party City Council.
Late on June 30, the overwhelmingly Democratic City Council passed an
$88.1 billion budget for fiscal 2021, which included a purported $1
billion cut to the $6 billion NY Police Department budget, “supported”
by Mayor Bill de Blasio. The NYPD employs 36,000 uniformed officers and
is by far the largest in the U.S. But the “cut” merely included shifting
school policing to the Board of Education’s budget and blocking a new
officers class in October. What was touted as police “reform” was, in
reality, merely moving spending from one budget column to another, with
no impact on the racist behavior of cops.
“To everyone who is disappointed we did not go farther, I am
disappointed as well,” said City Council Leader Cory Johnson, who added
the mayor, “is not budging.” In 2015, Johnson and de Blasio, both
Democrats, supported expanding the NYPD by 1,300 officers, despite years
of declining street “crime.”
What the Democrats and the capitalist media did not mention was: Who
controls the cops? Did that change – at all? No, the class remaining in
control is the capitalist class, not working people and oppressed
communities. In the self-interest of the ruling class, limited
concessions were granted because the anti-racist protests are huge,
militant and diverse. Without concessions the system might fall.
When the rich were under attack and expensive stores were being
“looted,” de Blasio imposed a curfew, criticized for its racist
enforcement. Democratic Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo, like
Republican President Trump, threatened to send in the National Guard in
defense of property.
Socialist Action says, “Disarm, disband, and dismantle the police!”
Black community control of the police!
As the budget sham unfolded inside City Hall, hundreds of mostly young
anti-racist protesters of Occupy City Hall (OCH) began camping out for
several days in City Hall Park. OCH was subject to two frontal attacks
by de Blasio’s NYPD (as of July 2) as protesters chanted, “I don’t see
no riot here! Why are you in riot gear?” Linking arms, OCH managed to
force the cops to retreat – for now.
After the vote OCH protesters and even a few politicians slammed the
final budget deal as a sellout. Said Tatiana Hill, a 32-year-old
activist, “It’s trickery. It’s pretending to answer our demands. It
sounds like they’re defunding the NYPD but they’re literally just moving
things around,” Hill said. Eliel Cruz, a protester, said the Black Lives
Matter movement will not be fooled by “smoke and mirrors.”
Occupy City Hall is organized by an ad hoc coalition and Hill is part of
that collective, and also an organizer with VOCAL-NY, a statewide
organization working with low-income members. Hill insists, “We need
black voices in the forefront. Because privilege exists even in these
spaces that are supposed to be for us.”
2011’s Occupy Wall Street was located not far from City Hall in Zuccotti
Park until billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg teamed-up with the Obama
administration in a nationally orchestrated plan to smash the
anti-corporate movement by force.
On June 25, a New York City cop was arrested and charged with illegally
using a chokehold to a man on a Rockaway Beach boardwalk in Queens, NY.
A chokehold caused the 2014 death of Eric Garner, a Staten Island father
who was being arrested on suspicion of selling loose cigarettes. Five
years later, the NYPD officer, Daniel Pantaleo, was found guilty – in a
cop’s court! – and finally fired but never spent a day in jail under de
Blasio’s watch!
On June 29, Robert Cuffy, an African American anti-racist activist, was
attacked while leading a march to “Defund the NYPD & Abolish the Police”
from Washington Square to Foley Square in lower Manhattan. As Cuffy was
filming the march he was tackled by an unidentified man who slammed
Robert into another car, dislocating his shoulder.
Socialist Action spoke with Cuffy, who explained, “I was dragged against
a car and saved by other protesters who intervened. The police were
alerted and very criminally let the person go. They escorted him away.”
Cuffy added, “The cops said there was no title registered for the
attacker’s car, highly unlikely,” feeding speculation that the attacker
was a cop. Cuffy described him as weighing 250-300 pounds and 6 feet
tall. The attacker was not arrested. The struggle now, Cuffy says, is
to identify the assailant.
To sign the petition to demand justice for Cuffy and view powerful
videos go to Facebook: NYC Fight for Our Lives Coalition.
In June, State Attorney General Letitia James held an investigation into
the police conduct at demonstrations. One witness, Dounya Zayer,
recalled being forcefully shoved to the ground by a cop, Vincent
D’Andraia, at a peaceful protest and hit her head on the pavement, as
seen in a video that went viral. Zayer experienced a seizure and
concussion. Almost three weeks later, “I’m nauseous, my back hurts, I’ve
had consistent migraines and I can’t hold down food. I can’t sleep,”
said Zayer. The cop was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault
and suspended without pay.
Said Zayer, “Vincent D’Andraia being suspended so that, you know, the
publicity can go away, and then they can bring him back to do the same
thing over and over again. Where the hell is the humanity in watching
these officers assault a human for no reason?”
MOBILIZATIONS SCORE SOME REFORMS
In Albany, the New York State legislature passed a set of laws backed by
“91 members of families of New Yorkers Killed by Police” and dozens of
organizations urging Albany to prioritize police accountability and
transparency.
On June 12, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed laws limiting police abuse,
including strengthening a special prosecutor to investigate cases where
police kill people, and the Repeal50a Bill, which struck from the books
the country’s most secretive law on police misconduct. On June 15, they
passed the vital reporting legislation, the Police STAT Act, which
requires reporting of demographic and geographic data on law enforcement
activity. These three bills together are known as the Safer NY Act, all
signed by Cuomo.
At a press conference, Gov. Cuomo said after signing the bills, “To the
protesters, you can go home, you’ve achieved what you wanted.” In
response, an angry State Assemblyman Charles Baron told a June 19
Black-led protest on Wall Street, “Tell Governor Cuomo to go to hell!”
to a cheering crowd.
On June 18, a set of police reforms were approved by the New York City
Council: requiring that officer badge numbers be visible, a ban on
chokeholds, “oversight” of the NYPD surveillance technology, a penalty
system for police officers with disciplinary issues, and a bill that
puts into law the right to record police interactions.
Also, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea announced June 15 he’s disbanding
the department’s plainclothes anti-crime unit of 600 cops, which had
been involved in several controversial shootings and spying on Black
Lives Matter. The 600 cops will be reassigned.
In his 2014 mayoral run De Blasio gathered the support of liberal
Democrats and virtually the entire so-called Left in NYC (except
Socialist Action). Promoting a demagogic “Tale of Two Cities” campaign
theme, de Blasio billed himself as an anti-racist reformer by feigning
opposition to the racist “Stop and Frisk” program, which overwhelmingly
targeted African Americans for arrest and harassment and was ruled
“unconstitutional” by a Federal Court. De Blasio maintained that he is
in agreement with the “broken windows” philosophy of policing that
targets low level crime in poor communities, i.e., that is, the
oppressed communities. To the shock and betrayal of many of his
supporters in the Black community, de Blasio, upon taking office,
appointed Bill Bratton as police Chief, who was seen as Stop and Frisk’s
creator when he was chief of police in Los Angeles.
Under de Blasio, prior to the pandemic, racist police enforcement has
been rife. In 2019, reported stops increased by 22% – and 59% of stops
were of Black people and 29% Latinx people in New York City.
Today, Black Americans are at least four times as likely to be shot by
police as white Americans and six times as likely to be thrown in
prison. Black drivers are three times more likely to be searched and
twice as likely to be arrested during traffic stops. On June 25, the New
York Times ran an article titled, “The Black White Wage Gap is as Big as
it was in 1950.” Its findings and conclusions were devastating, given it
has been more than 50 years since the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Simply put, racism and capitalism were twins at birth. There is no
“progressive” Democrat that can change that reality.
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