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Cuomo to local governments: reform police or lose state funding

Governor says 'enough is enough,' launches New York State Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday sent a strong message to local governments by signing an executive order mandating they must reform their police departments or risk losing state funding.

Saying that being angry and emotional is not enough, Cuomo said the reforms being put forward are long overdue.

The 'New York State Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative' Executive Order will require cities, towns and villages across the state and its 500 police agencies to develop a plan that reinvents and modernizes police strategies and programs in their communities. These plans must be in place by April 1, 2021.

Local governments will need to formulate a plan addressing the following issues:

  •  Use of force
  • Crowd management 
  • Community policing 
  • Implicit bias awareness training
  • De-escalation training and practices
  • Restorative justice practices
  • Community-based outreach
  • Transparent citizen complaint disposition procedures

Cuomo also signed a series of bills under the 'Say Their Name Agenda' that includes rolling back the so-called '50-a' that will now make police disciplinary records available to the public, banning choke holds, appointing the state's Attorney General as a special prosecutor and prohibiting false race-based 911 reporting.

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