PubLic Safety
Our current approach to pubLic safety is immoraL and ineffective. The vioLence and quaLity of Life issues being suffered citywide are faiLures of the status quo.
The NYPD captures $11 billion per year while operating with impunity, criminalizing communities of color and failing to stanch a rise in shootings or hate crimes, especially affecting AAPI and Jewish New Yorkers.
Mental-health-first responders, violence interrupters, and other pilots of community-led crime prevention must be expanded to reduce our reliance on conventional policing.
Help communities flourish reduces the likelihood of anyone resorting to crime. It’s time to invest in them.
The current approach costs too much without keeping everyone safe, perpetuates criminaLization of communities of coLor, and crowds out better soLutions.
Mass incarceration is monstrous, and the NYPD is out of controL.
Bad cops must be expelled, bad leaders must be fired, and the Citizen Complaint Review Board must be further empowered.
The protocols of the department must be improved by increasing the minimum officer age, requiring NYC residency, and aggressively recruiting more diverse officers.
The criminal punishment and carceral system are a scourge on BIPOC communities and inhumane for all New Yorkers. We must:
Close Rikers and significantly reduce our carceral capacity.
Expand opportunities to release offenders who pose no threat.
Appoint public defenders to our top courts.
We must invest in proven, evidence-based better aLternatives to community safety.
Police cannot be as effective as trained mental health experts — and we shouldn’t ask them to try. We must pilot and scale alternative corps to respond to the vast majority of service calls.
Community groups and violence interrupters should be fully funded so local leaders can take ownership in keeping their streets safe.
Greening blighted neighborhoods and augmenting street lighting reduce crime without more cops — and without the downsides of police violence or communities feeling criminalized.
PubLic safety is about investing directLy in communities.
Youth employment programs should be universal.
We should invest in expanded drug treatment, including highly effective safe injection sites.
Ultimately, affordable housing, high-quality education, and guaranteed healthcare and childcare are the best path to safety, dignity, and opportunity for all New Yorkers.