A coalition of 14 advocacy groups, including Last Chance for Change and Black Lives Matter Syracuse, has presented nine demands to the Syracuse Common Council and Mayor Ben Walsh to reform the Syracuse Police Department.

The demands, which the groups entitled the People’s Agenda for Policing, come in the wake of mass protests across the country against police brutality and the alleged murder of George Floyd. Last Chance for Change has said it will peacefully march for 40 consecutive days to demand police reform.

“From daily marches to rallies in front of city hall, thousands of Syracusans have voiced their demand that police reform must happen locally, and it must align with the needs and demands of the people,” the agenda reads.

Floyd, a Black man, was killed after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck, faces charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. The three other officers present during Floyd’s killing have been arrested on charges of aiding and abetting murder.

The groups demand that the city of Syracuse demilitarize SPD and that the Syracuse City School District remove all school resource officers, instead investing in counselors and support staff.

The demands also include redirecting city resources away from SPD and toward other services to “reduce the oversized role policing has in (the Syracuse) community.”

Requiring SPD officers to turn on body cameras at the beginning of their shifts is another of the coalition’s demands. Footage from body cameras must also be released to the public under open-records law, it reads.

The coalition also demands that the city pass legislation banning police surveillance technologies, such as biometric and facial recognition, with public oversight. Sgt. Matthew Malinowski, public information officer for SPD, said in March that SPD does not employ facial recognition technology and does not have any plans to.

Publicizing the police union contract and entering a community-driven renegotiation process, as well as strengthening the city’s Citizens Review Board so its recommendations are enforceable, are additional demands.

The Common Council must also pass the Right to Know Act at its next council meeting, the agenda reads. The act would require SPD officers to inform residents of their privacy rights while conducting searches.

The act is only the first step in addressing the absence of accountability and transparency in the SPD, the agenda states.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order June 12 mandating that local police departments develop reform plans by April 1 to receive state funding. Cuomo also signed police reform legislation that effectively ended Civil Rights Law 50-a, which protected the disciplinary records of police officers in New York state.

“Just as the state government listened to the people of New York, it is now time for Mayor Walsh and the Syracuse Common Council to listen to the people of Syracuse,” the agenda reads.

Published on June 13, 2020 at 10:16 pm

Contact Maggie: mehicks@syr.edu | @maggie_hickss