Detroit, MI – On Saturday, April 18, the Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression held a rally at the corner of Clark Avenue and West Fisher Service Drive to demand that the Detroit City Council pass the People’s Bodycam Ordinance, a progressive city ordinance that would force the police to release body-worn camera footage from incidents of police violence. Banners were held by the road and over the highway overpass, with the slogans. “Stop protecting killer cops! Pass the People’s Bodycam Ordinance!” Protesters at the rally chanted, “When killer cops are on patrol, what’s the answer? Community control!”

Ten minutes into the rally, protesters were confronted by the Detroit Police Department, who insisted that the holding of a banner over the highway overpass was unlawful, and that several protesters would be issued citations for taking part in setting up the banner.

When pressed, none of the police officers were able to find the specific language stating that the display of a banner in such a fashion was illegal. Nevertheless, they stayed at the scene for 45 minutes, eventually confiscating the banner held on the overpass and informing protesters that they would be issued citations in the mail. During this time, the crowd continued chanting, this time directly at the police: “Biggest threat to the block? The chief and his racist cops!”

After an hour of chanting, Marcel Ulacia of DAARPR spoke about the People’s Bodycam Ordinance and its place in the larger struggle against police violence, stating, “This is year two of our struggle, and we’re in it for the long run. And it doesn’t end at our bodycam ordinance; our end goal is to fully establish community control of DPD and finally put them on the leash they’ve been needing since the founding of their institution.”

Kassandra Rodriguez from El Comité de Acción Comunitaria de Detroit told the crowd, “We will not stand aside while our city government surrenders our communities to ICE and police violence. Our city needs to serve us, and we, the people, should be the ones deciding how our communities get policed.”

Last to speak was Jacob Smith of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, who stated, “We need the People's Bodycam Ordinance so that the public can make their own judgement calls on police conduct, and we need to establish community control of the police so we can properly discipline these rabid dogs when they step out of line!”

After the speeches, protesters continued chanting for an additional half hour in defiance of the repression enacted by the Detroit Police Department.

#DetroitMI #MI #InjusticeSystem #PoliceAccountability #Bodycam #DAARPR

Jacksonville, FL – On April 14, dozens of community members gathered on the steps of Jacksonville City Hall to demand the establishment of a permanent professional mental health team to respond to mental health crises, instead of police.

In 2025 the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office was responsible for more than five killings while responding to mental health crises. Concerned community members and mothers of the victims of this police violence led by the Jacksonville Community Action Committee made their voices heard.

Protesters demanded the creation of permanent mental health emergency response team professionals, for officers on mental health calls to radio-confirm deescalation and non-lethal force only, and consequences for cops that use excessive force.

“Mental health episode should not be a death sentence,” said Amelia Moss in her speech representing the Jacksonville Community Action Committee.

After the rally, the group headed into the city council chambers to reiterate their demands in the meeting's public comment section.

During the comment section of the meeting, the Jacksonville Community Action Committee showed solidarity with sister organization Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network by demanding the trumped-up politically motivated charges on fellow organizers be dropped.

Despite attempts at intimidation by city council members and the police, the people made their voices heard.

#JacksonvilleFL #FL #JCAC #PoliceAccountability #InjusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities

Tallahassee, FL – On Jan. 15, the Tallahassee City Commission held a final public hearing on Ordinance No. 24-O-40, which is for the creation of the Citizens Police Review Board (CPRB). The Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC), along with other community members came out to oppose the dissolution of the CPRB ordinance.

The CPRB has existed since the George Floyd movement in 2020, and was originally established by John Dailey, Tallahassee’s mayor. According to the city of Tallahassee website, the Citizens Police Review Board was created to “review completed Tallahassee Police Department internal affairs reports, cases, and issues relating to law enforcement that are important or of interest to the community and the City, and to increase and demonstrate police accountability and credibility with the public.”

After the passing of Florida House Bill 601 by Republican Wyman Duggan, civilian review boards across the state of Florida have been systematically dismantled by city leaderships. Although the city of Tallahassee claims that they are being legally forced to get rid of the review board, organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) disagree. In amemo released to multiple cities in Florida, the ACLU states that “the legislation (HB 601) as enacted has little or no practical effect on existing citizen-review panels in Florida’ and does not require boards to disband.”

Despite this, the Tallahassee city commission decided to hold a final vote on the CPRB, claiming that HB 601 made the CPRB ordinance illegal. About a dozen community members gathered to speak in favor of keeping the CPRB ordinance, including former city commission candidate Dot Inman Johnson and ACLU statewide organizer Madeline Bowman.

“We have seen in Florida a rise in this anti-democratic legislation aimed to suppress free speech,” said Bowman, who argued that the city had no real legal responsibility to disband Tallahassee’s review board.

“The fact that one of the things brought forward is the elimination of accountability in the police department is concerning to me,” said Dot Inman-Johnson, who ran against Curtis Richardson in the recent local election.

Other community members and organizations argued the need for police accountability and civilian oversight, trying to showcase the need for the board to continue to exist.

“The implementation of the CPRB was a demand of the people of Tallahassee,” said Thomas Speirs, a member of TCAC.

Before the final vote on the CPRB, both City Commissioners Jack Porter and Jeremy Matlow spoke about their disapproval of removing the ordinance. Matlow talked about the need for community oversight for not just the public, but also the city of Tallahassee leadership.

After a 3-2 vote, with City Commissioners Porter and Matlow voting to keep the ordinance and Mayor Dailey and Commissioners Curtis Richardson and Dianne Williams-Cox voting to remove it, the ordinance was officially dissolved by the city.

Despite this being a setback for police accountability, Tallahassee activists vowed that they would keep fighting for police accountability no matter what. TCAC intends to center their next campaign on the 2025 police budget, and fight for funding to go to affordable housing, transportation access and social services, instead of increased policing.

“No matter what happens, the community will continue organizing against police brutality. The names and histories of Tony McDade, Mychael Johnson, Wilbon Woodard, and Raheem Reeder will live on. We will keep organizing for Calvin Riley and fight for him to get justice. If we don’t struggle, we won’t win,” said Delilah Pierre, President of TCAC.

#TallahasseeFL #Tally #TCAC #PoliceAccountability #CPRB #ACLU #PoliceCrimes

Minneapolis, MN – Police accountability. Rent control. Ending cruel encampment evictions when no shelter is available. A minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers. A city council that doesn’t oppose community initiatives from communities like East Phillips, Little Earth and North Minneapolis.

These are some of the issues at stake with the upcoming Minneapolis city council elections. As the election gets closer, conservative forces in Minneapolis are going into a panic that they might lose control of the city council, and their attacks on the more progressive council incumbents and candidates are getting more shrill and desperate. For example, they’re ridiculously trying to cast the more progressive and socialist candidates as “pro-terrorism’ if they are in any way critical of Israel’s horrifying and genocidal operation against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

On November 7, all 13 Minneapolis city council seats are on the ballot. Early voting has already begun. This year there are no national, state or mayoral elections. Historically when it’s an “off year” election like this with only the city council on the ballot, it will be a very low turnout election.

Why should we care?

As Marxists, we understand that both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are pro-capitalist, pro-imperialist parties. History has shown that the capitalist class won’t let us elect our way to socialism. Given that, should these elections even be of any concern to working-class and oppressed people, and to socialists?

Electoral politics has been and will remain an important realm of political struggle for working-class and oppressed people, to improve our daily lives, to gain a greater measure of political power (especially for oppressed nationality and national minority communities), and to win important reforms.

In the context of capitalism, elections help set the conditions that our movements struggle within. Voting for candidates who are more likely to stand with our movements can be important. In low turnout elections like this one, wealthier, whiter, older and more conservative voters participate in greater numbers. So if working-class, oppressed nationality and younger people ignore the election, we'll end up with a much more conservative city council.

What does the city council do anyway?

The main powers of the Minneapolis city council are to pass ordinances (laws) for the city, and to approve the city’s annual budget. Currently Minneapolis has a nearly $2 billion annual budget that pays for departments like Public Works (roads, infrastructure, etc.); the Office of Community Safety, which includes the police and fire departments; Regulatory Services, and much more. In recent years the Minneapolis city council has passed some ordinances that have made a real difference in working people’s lives, like the $15 minimum wage, earned sick and safe time for all workers, and measures to combat wage theft. The city council didn’t come up with those ideas on their own. It was unions and mass organizations engaging in serious, prolonged struggle that pressured the city council to take action.

Class struggle at City Hall

Just as the country as a whole is becoming more politically polarized, we see increased polarization and struggle between opposing class interests at City Hall.

Mayor Jacob Frey consistently represents and fights for the interests of the rich and powerful – landlords, big developers and big corporations and the police that protect their interests. Like most Democratic Party leaders in big cities, he tries to sell a progressive image to the public, but his actions betray his complete subservience to the rich and powerful.

The city council elections in 2021 created a more politically polarized city council than before. Some of the newly elected council members were more sharply conservative and more fully aligned with the mayor and the powerful interests backing him. But on the other side, a block of council members more sharply to the left were elected as well. Three of them identify as socialists and two others mostly vote with them as a block of five. A few council members in the middle vote with one side or the other depending on the issue.

During the current two-year term, when issues touching on the power of corporations, developers, landlords or police are voted on, the votes are often 8-5. Eight council members are aligned with the mayor and the powerful interests backing him, and five vote against them. On some issues, when mass movements have brought a lot of pressure to bear, like around rent control or the East Phillips Roof Depot struggle or minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers, one or two council members have flipped and the votes have been 7-6 in one direction or the other.

This situation means that if two or more council seats flip in this election from more conservative to more progressive members, it would flip the council from an 8-5 majority aligned with the corporations, developers, landlords and cops, to at least a 7-6 majority potentially willing to challenge their power. There are multiple competitive races where those flips could realistically happen.

The issues in play – from police accountability to rent control to encampment response to minimum wage for gig workers – matter deeply to working-class and oppressed people in Minneapolis. So it’s worth voting for the candidates who are more likely to stand with the people's movements.

Let’s look at some of the races in a little more detail.

Ward 10: Aisha Chughtai runs for reelection against two conservative challengers

Aisha Chughtai won election for the first time in 2021 in Ward 10, which is 80% renters and is heavily working class and multinational with many young people. She ran openly as a socialist and foregrounded her experience as a union organizer and immigrant rights activist. She’s the first Muslim woman and the youngest person ever elected to the Minneapolis city council.

Her leadership on issues like rent control, police accountability, and standing up to the mayor and business interests, have led two conservative candidates to try to unseat her. One is a cop, Nasri Warsame, who’s main issue seems to be wanting more police. He gained infamy, and may have torpedoed his ability to win, when video went viral of his supporters rushing the stage to attack Aisha Chughtai and her supporters at this summer’s DFL nominating convention. Another person also jumped into the race at the last minute to challenge Chughtai: Bruce Dachis. His sparse website also focuses on his desire for more police, echoes the mayor’s dishonest talking points about encampments, and represents his interests as a developer.

The more conservative forces in the city want to get Aisha Chughtai out of office because they recognize her ability to successfully advance policies that benefit working people and challenge the powerful. Her deep ties to grassroots organizations and unions, her organizing experience, and her firm socialist principles mean that she’s a formidable opponent for them.

Our movements must support Aisha’s reelection. She’s a powerful voice on the council for police accountability and community control of the police, for rent control and other renter protections, for climate justice and in favor of community initiatives like the East Phillips Urban Farm, for public housing and for housing the unhoused who are currently living in encampments, for increased funding for immigrant rights and abortion rights. These are some issues she has led on in her first term.

Ward 8: Council President Andrea Jenkins vs. Soren Stevenson

Council President Andrea Jenkins was the first Black trans woman elected to office in the U.S. She essentially has run unopposed twice. But her votes on key issues have more often than not lined up with the mayor and the powerful forces that back him, rather than with working-class people in the city. Her role in continually increasing police budgets, in siding with the mayor against native people and environmentalists in East Phillips on the Roof Depot struggle, and her role in pushing through a vote to kill rent control this year on a Muslim holiday when three rent control supporters on the council who are Muslim were absent are just three examples of extremely backward things she’s done.

This year she has a serious challenger, Soren Stevenson. Stevenson identifies as a socialist. He’s a young white man who lost his eye when the MPD shot him in the face with a “non-lethal” projectile as he participated in the protests after the murder of George Floyd. Out of that experience, he built relationships with family members of police brutality victims and earned their respect, and decided that he would challenge the incumbent who has been on the wrong side of many votes on policing on the council. His politics are more in line with the majority of people in Ward 8 than Jenkins, despite her identity. Stevenson pulled off an upset by winning the DFL endorsement in the race. We’ll see if that translates into winning the election, but it seems he has a real chance to do so. If he wins, he’ll almost surely vote with the more progressive people on the council, so people in Ward 8 should vote for Soren.

Ward 5: Jeremiah Ellison vs. Victor Martinez

Jeremiah Ellison was elected after the police murdered Jamar Clark and he participated in the protests outside the MPD’s 4th Precinct. He usually votes with the progressive block. Ellison’s challenger, Victor Martinez, is an open Trump supporter, a pastor at an anti-choice church, and very likely committed fraud in signing up hundreds of people as his supposed supporters in the race for the DFL endorsement, people for whom he could provide no paper trail for. Martinez’s main issue is supporting the police; he’s basically a Republican who is only running as a Democrat because you can’t win as a Republican in Minneapolis. It’s important to vote for Ellison, who mostly votes with the progressive block, to keep Martinez out of office.

The open seats: Wards 7 and 12

Ward 7 and 12 are open seats with races between people aligned more or less with opposite sides of the city council divide. It’s important to vote for the more progressive candidates in these races – Aurin Chowdhury in Ward 12 and Katie Cashman in Ward 7 – to keep the conservatives out.

Chowdhury in Ward 12 is a first generation Bengali-American, daughter of working-class immigrants, and a renter who’s running on a progressive platform, while her opponents are campaigning on a more conservative platform. In Ward 7, the main conservative candidate – Scott Graham – is a landlord who has been exposed as having at least 209 violations in his rental units documented by the city. That’s not a person who should be deciding the future of renters rights and making decisions about development on the council.

If all the incumbents win, it’s these two races that would determine the political composition of the new council.

The rest of the races

Ward 2 is the only uncontested race this year, where Robin Wonsley of Democratic Socialists of America is running unopposed. Elliot Payne (Ward 1) and Jason Chavez (Ward 9), two of the other progressive incumbents, have opponents that are not running serious campaigns with much of a chance to win. In Ward 3, Green Party-endorsed Marcus Mills is running on a progressive platform challenging incumbent conservative Democrat Michael Rainville. It’s good to support independent progressive candidates like Mills. In Ward 6 incumbent Jamal Osman faces two challengers. Ward 11 incumbent Emily Koski, who has often aligned with the mayor on key votes, has no credible opponent. Ward 13 incumbent and current Council Vice President Linea Palmisano, a core force on the conservative side of the council, has two opponents: Kate Mortenson, who is running to her right on some issues, and Zach Metzger who seems to have little chance to win.

What is to be done?

Any hope for real change comes from independent mass movements and unions willing to wage class struggle and fight for working class and oppressed people’s felt needs. That said, elections can create better or worse conditions in which our movements wage those fights.

This year, it’s important to vote for city council candidates who are more likely to stand up to big developers, corporations, landlords and the police. This could create better conditions for mass movements to make gains that improve the lives of working-class and oppressed people in Minneapolis. And if the mayor vetoes good policies the council has passed, it would help expose the ruling class interests he represents. The capitalist class and their bought and paid for politicians and media mouthpieces would rather try to make this election a referendum on Palestine, or on socialism, or try again with their racist attack from the election two years ago in backlash against the George Floyd uprising. They’d rather scaremonger about those things than have to defend their favored policies that give big corporations, developers, landlords and the police whatever they want, directly harming working-class and oppressed people in Minneapolis.

#MinneapolisMN #Elections #PoliceAccountability #RentControl #UberLyft #CityCouncil #FRSO #FRSOTC

Milwaukee, WI – In the lead up to the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors Committee of the Whole meeting, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression held a press conference on Wednesday, September 27. The press conference called attention to the report by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) about certain conditions inside the County Jail and the need for transparency and accountability from both the MCSO and the Board of Supervisors.

As Alan Chavoya, outreach chair of the Milwaukee Alliance, said, “We want to direct attention back to the report by the MCSO.” Last week’s county board meeting became increasingly focused on tensions between county supervisors, which diverted attention away from the contents of the MCSO’s report. “Some county supervisors are choosing to criticize a fellow county supervisor, and this has only served to allow the sheriff to sneak away and not face accountability,” Chavoya continued.

Milwaukee organizers and community members want elected officials who will listen to them and help ensure that the MCSO can face accountability. Even though Sheriff Denita Ball has lost much trust from the residents of Milwaukee, people like Dr. Rose Scott from Prison Action Milwaukee recognize that Sheriff Ball holds the power to change the conditions of the County Jail. “Change is long overdue, but we have a sheriff that could make the change happen,” said Dr. Scott.

While Sheriff Ball could make the necessary changes happen, she’s made it clear that without an elected Civilian Accountability Council with the power to hold the MCSO accountable, the deplorable conditions inside the County Jail won’t change. The report the MCSO produced reveals this much. They claim that the in-custody deaths and the conditions inside the County Jail are due to budgetary and staffing issues.

In other words, they are holding the county hostage and indicating that unless their demands for greater funding are met, they will not take care of the inmates inside the County Jail. Kerrie Hirte, Cilivea Thyrion’s mother, indicated this much when she said, “If we continue this way, we shouldn’t be surprised if there’s another in-custody death in the next month.”

The upcoming Committee of the Whole meeting will offer what may very well be the Milwaukee community’s final opportunity to speak publicly about the MCSO’s subpar report. Should the committee file the MCSO’s report, it will effectively eliminate any future opportunity for public discussion. People have the democratic right to participate in these kinds of discussions, and they should have the democratic right to provide input into how the MCSO functions. Filing the MCSO’s report would mark an attack on these democratic rights and on transparency and accountability.

#MilwaukeeWI #PoliceAccountability #MAARPR #PoliceBrutality

Seattle, WA – Over 20 community members and activists brought together by the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (SAARPR) gathered at City Hall on September 26 to deliver public comment and demand justice for Jaahnavi Kandula, who was killed by Seattle Police officer Kevin Dave on January 23, 2023.

Kevin Dave was responding to an overdose call, driving at 74 miles per hour, almost three times the posted speed limit and without a consistent siren. Kandula was walking through a lit crosswalk and had the right of way when Dave hit her and sent her flying 138 feet away from the intersection. Reports state that if Dave was traveling at 50 mph, Kandula would have had time to react and get out of the way.

On September 11, body camera footage was released of Michael Solan and Daniel Auderer, the president and vice president of the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild, talking over their radios shortly after Kandula was killed. During the conversation, they can be heard laughing, and apparently estimating the value of her life, saying, “Eleven thousand dollars. She was 26 anyway, she had limited value.” This sparked multiple large rallies mere days later, demonstrating to news outlets, city officials and the public that the people of Seattle have had enough. Kevin Dave, Michael Solan and Daniel Auderer have not yet sustained charges or faced consequences for their behavior or actions.

Jonathan Toledo, a member of SAARPR, delivered a unity statement written by the organization during public comment, reading, “We demand the immediate resignation of bigots Mike Solan and Daniel Auderer for their inhumane and unacceptable comments, and for Kevin Dave to be fired and convicted for the death of Jaahnavi Kandula.”

Other members of SAARPR asked the city council to reflect on their past actions on police accountability measures, saying “While SPOG argues for their worth, remember the price tag they gave Jaahnavi. Remember Solan ended the contract for FBI-backed body camera analysis because they fear accountability. Remember all of the victims of police violence you have shut down and left behind.”

Castill Hightower, a leader in the movement for police accountability and victim of the Seattle Police Department, spoke on the injustice, saying, “What adds another layer of heartlessness was the mockery of her precious life and the lives of all the victims of police violence that was made by what should be former SPOG leaders Mike Solan and Daniel Auderer.”

“We are systematically shut out and shut up. A good example of that is what has been happening to the Affected Persons Program, a pilot project to address the harms done to survivors and victims of police violence. It's been absolutely suffocated by the system, by the ‘accountability’ system – and city council.” said Valerie Schloredt, a longtime advocate of real police accountability.

With pressure from the Indian Consulate, national press, many community organizations holding demonstrations and SPOG still in the midst of contract bargaining, it remains to be seen if the officers involved will face charges or consequences. The Seattle Alliance plans to continue the fight for justice for Jaahnavi Kandula and for all officers involved to be held fully accountable.

#SeattleWA #PoliceBrutality #KillerCops #SAARPR #NAARPR #JaahnaviKandula #PoliceAccountability #CPAC

New York, NY – The police union that represents NYPD officers, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA), has intervened in an historic legal settlement in an attempt to prevent new regulations on how police respond to protests.

The settlement, announced earlier this month, comes from a lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Society, the New York Civil Liberties Union, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and individuals who were arrested or had their rights violated during the Black lives matter uprisings in the summer of 2020. Federal Judge Colleen McMahon had initially approved the settlement, but on September 8 she vacated her approval and reopened negotiations on the case.

If approved, the settlement would be a huge victory for activists in New York City. The new regulations would ban some of the NYPD’s more notorious tactics, such as kettling, and would increase oversight over the deployment of officers to protests and their conduct once there, including limiting the circumstances in which protesters can be arrested. The PBA argues that the settlement’s new regulations would put officers in danger, and that it therefore should not be approved, even though the NYPD has already agreed to the settlement.

The PBA’s objection to the new regulations is a transparent attempt to allow the NYPD to continue brutalizing protesters without consequences. Coming on the heels of a summer of active labor organizing across the country, this move shows that unlike other labor unions, the police union protects the interests of those in power at the expense of the people. Any labor union truly concerned with the interests of working people ought to welcome these reforms, which protect demonstrators and could help to prevent the kind of bogus charges and political repression facing activists in other parts of the country, such as the Tampa 5.

After the murder of George Floyd, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in the summer of 2020. In New York City the police response to these historic protests was brutal and abusive. Demonstrators recorded video of NYPD officers driving their cars into crowds of protesters, breaking people's bones with their batons, yanking N95 masks off of peoples’ faces, using their bicycles as weapons, and shoving people backwards off of sidewalks into the street, among other things.

Under the terms of the settlement, the NYPD would be prohibited from kettling protesters -surrounding them at a rally or protest and preventing them from leaving. In addition to creating an enormous safety risk, for example, by blocking all possible exits from a crowded intersection, kettling also dramatically escalates confrontations between the police and civilians. The police usually arrest all or nearly all of the people kettled, which leads to a flood of people being tied in zip ties that can cut off circulation, moved all over the city to different precincts, and stuck waiting hours to be booked and processed.

Under the settlement, the NYPD would also be required to use de-escalation tactics before sending additional cops to a protest or demonstration, and a high-level supervisor’s approval would be needed before police could make arrests for common protest charges including rioting, inciting a riot, non-violent obstruction of governmental administration, disorderly conduct, trespass, and unlawful assembly. The police would also be required to accommodate protests that temporarily impede traffic unless “critical infrastructure” is at risk. Furthermore, the NYPD would be banned from preventing members of the press from observing or recording cops in public.

These terms are a direct response to the actions of the NYPD during the 2020 uprising. Earlier this year, New York City settled two other lawsuits related to the NYPD’s misconduct during that period. The first, in March 2023, paid out over $20,000 each to hundreds of people who had been kettled by the police and attacked with batons and pepper spray. The second, in July 2023, paid out $10,000 each to thousands more people who were arrested in Manhattan or Brooklyn during 2020.

The PBA’s interests are fundamentally opposed to those of the people ,as demonstrated both by their objection to this settlement and by their defense of the NYPD’s repeated misconduct during the protests of 2020. This is obvious in the PBA’s baseless claim that the settlement would put officers and public safety at risk, when again and again we have seen that it is the NYPD that puts people in danger, not the other way around.

Finally, the circumstances under which Judge Colleen McMahon reopened negotiations highlight the web of corruption surrounding the NYPD and the PBA. By her own admission, McMahon and one of the attorneys for the PBA are old law partners who continue to interact socially, even jointly hosting a Super Bowl party together earlier this year.

The PBA and NYPD’s reputations for corruption are nothing new, with laundry lists of scandals that span decades. In May of this year, a former NYPD officer filed a federal lawsuit alleging widespread corruption within the NYPD and PBA. Therefore, it is unsurprising that the PBA would use personal connections to resist the proposed settlement and any policies which might help curb the NYPD’s brutality.

Despite the PBA’s interference, hope is not lost. According to Gothamist, the lead counsel from Legal Aid Society has stated that the settlement will most likely still go through, but it will be delayed by at least two months. If it does, it will be a blow to the power of the NYPD and of the PBA, protecting activists while chipping away at the NYPD’s stranglehold on New York City.

#NewYorkNY #PoliceAccountability #CCP