Fighting crime and holding
the NYPD accountable
protecting all citizens. I fully
support increased funding for
social worker response units
and similar programs to remove
cops from non-violent
outreach.
But when a 10-year old
child is shot in his own home
by someone who is unafraid to
brazenly fi re a gun on a New
York City street, we know that
calls to defund or abolish the
police are not serious public
safety proposals. The answer
to incidents of bad policing is
not no policing — it’s good and
better policing.
We can achieve good and
better policing by continuing
and expanding the current reform
agenda. And we can do it
by treating violence as a public
health issue.
My vision is to use the convening
x xpowers of the Brooklyn
Borough President’s offi ce to
bring together community
leaders, activists, police and
public safety offi cials, social
workers, mental health professionals,
and neighborhood
representatives to create holistic
strategies to the issues
we are facing: rising gun violence,
domestic violence, and
hate crimes.
And we will address the culture
of policing. It is time the
NYPD changes with the communities
it serves. Offi cers
should reside in the neighborhoods
they work in to increase
the personal stake of cops in
their communities, and so that
interaction with their neighbors
is proactive and positive.
Criminals, not law abiding citizens,
should fear our Finest.
Ongoing professional development
and community partnerships
will help to ensure the
police are seen as partners, not
enemies.
We can and must deliver
public safety, and reduce violent
crime — especially gun
violence. And we can do that
while strengthening mutual
trust and respect between police
and communities, and
achieving social and racial justice
reform. It will take vision,
leadership and action to get it
done — and it’s the agenda I’ll
fi ght for right out of the gate as
your Brooklyn BP.
Robert Cornegy represents
Bedford-Stuyvesant and northern
Crown Heights in the City
Council, and is running for
Brooklyn borough president.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J BTR UNE 18-24, 2021 13
BY ROBERYT CORNEGY
A little more than a year
ago, the world watched in horror
as a Minneapolis police offi
cer murdered George Floyd
in broad daylight. It was an unspeakable
outrage that sparked
the greatest protest movement
the nation has seen in years.
Millions of Americans spoke
out, demanding police reform,
accountability, and racial and
social justice.
Offi cial statistics from last
month showed that overall
crime increased 22 percent
in May 2021 compared to the
same period last year — including
a 73 percent increase
in shootings, and a 98 percent
increase in hate crimes. The
heartbreaking shooting of
10-year-old Justin Wallace
in his own home fueled new
fears about an alarming rise
in gun violence and violence
over the past several months
in New York City and across
the country. Crime and police
reform: two urgently important
issues that must be addressed
comprehensively, and
Yet, our political discourse
too often makes it
diffi cult to fi nd common
sense solutions to bring us
together and move forward.
Some social justice advocates
strenuously call for outright
abolition of the police, while
opponents to reform mislabel
protestors as anti-police
to block reforming and reimagining
law enforcement.
Both approaches are fl awed.
The truth is this: we must
increase police accountability,
address police culture, and
achieve more criminal justice
reform — all while protecting
our communities from violent
crime and stopping the scourge
of gun violence.
These three priorities are
not in tension, but rather
they support each other.
These priorities are important
to create safe and secure
neighborhoods, while ending
the legacy of criminalizing
communities.
We must invest more resources
into community programs,
culture-building initiatives,
and social services. But
we must also work in partnership
with the police to deter
crime and swiftly bring to justice
those who commit violence
in our neighborhoods.
I’ve dedicated my public
service career to achieving
this change. In the City Council
I sponsored the Eric Garner
Anti-Chokehold Act, the original
bill to make police chokeholds
illegal. I also fought to
repeal what’s called ‘qualifi ed
immunity,’ so cops who use excessive
force are held accountable.
In addition, I authored
the Kalief Browder Bill, which
provides necessary counseling
and social services for Rikers
Island detainees, so no-one is
left behind like Kalief was.
During the current legislative
session, I fully supported
the Police Reform Slate: a
group of bills that includes
a Mental Health Emergency
Response Unit, removing police
from unnecessary interactions
while supporting
the important work of police
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