BUFFALO, N.Y. — Following an incident Thursday night involving Buffalo Police and an elderly protester who was injured, the Buffalo Police Advisory Board is calling for immediate policy reform.
An elderly man suffered a head injury after he was pushed by Buffalo Police officers who were clearing Niagara Square to enforce a city-wide curfew.
Two officers were immediately suspended without pay. The man was taken to the hospital and is in serious, but stable condition.
The Buffalo Police Advisory Board say this is one of several incidents involving police violence toward citizens.
They are calling on city leaders to make changes in police policy and recommend these reforms:
- Create an independent, civilian, investigatory body with independent legal counsel. We believe the membership of this body should be completely independent of political appointments.
- Codify ALL five Use of Force policy amendments we have recommended:
- Require de-escalation prior to use of force,
- Require a warning before shooting,
- Require another present officer to intervene,
- Mandate a comprehensive report of other police officers’ actions or arrests that included use of force and,
- Ban chokeholds or strangle holds
- Adopt the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program in order to assist citizens dealing with mental health, poverty, and substance abuse by preventing arrest and system involvement.
- Adopt the use of “stop tickets” to increase accountability and transparency by providing residents with basic information about the stop, the officer, and the reason for the stop.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown banned the use of chokeholds on Thursday.