New York City Stop & Frisk Joint Remedial Process
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NEW YORK CITY JOINT REMEDIAL PROCESS On NYPD's Stop, Question, and Frisk, and Trespass Enforcement Policies FINAL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS Hon. Ariel E. Belen (Ret.) Facilitator NEW YORK CITY STOP & FRISK JOINT REMEDIAL PROCESS Facilitation Team Facilitator Hon. Ariel E. Belen (Ret.) Senior Advisor Reinaldo Rivera Project Manager Jeanene Barrett, Ph.D. Candidate Assistant Project Manager Valerie Paul Project Attorney Cliff Bloomfield, Esq. Project Assistant Jennifer Dionicio JAMS Administrative Team JAMS General Manager Matthew York JAMS Case Manager Alicia Jantsch JAMS Case Manager Anne Goodwin Cover Photo: The cover page contains a photograph of an abandoned warehouse visible from Third Street in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn. The graffiti on the parapet reads “End Stop and Frisk Hands off the Kids” TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION I: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................ i SECTION II: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 SECTION III: GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE JOINT REMEDIAL PROCESS................... 14 SECTION IV: RECENT HISTORY OF POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS IN IMPACTED COMMUNITIES: ......................................................................................................................... 42 SECTION V: JOINT REMEDIAL PROCESS DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION ............ 125 1. Convening Phase .............................................................................................................. 125 2. Focus Group Phase ........................................................................................................... 135 3. Leadership Meeting Phase ................................................................................................ 171 4. Community Forum Phase ................................................................................................. 193 SECTION VI: JOINT PROCESS REFORM RECOMMENDATIONS .................................... 218 1. Creation of Permanent Structures for Feedback Regarding Officer Conduct ‒ Feedback Loops ....................................................................................................................................... 219 2. Monthly NYPD Discipline Report ................................................................................... 222 3. Disciplinary Recommendations ....................................................................................... 223 4. Body-Worn Cameras ........................................................................................................ 225 5. Recording Level 1 and Level 2 Encounters ..................................................................... 230 6. Accessing Stop Reports .................................................................................................... 236 7. Community Engagement .................................................................................................. 236 8. Public Education Campaign ............................................................................................. 247 9. Community Surveys ......................................................................................................... 250 10. Use of Stop, Question, and Frisk to Develop Youth Informants ..................................... 251 11. Mental Health and Disability Training ............................................................................. 253 12. LGBTQ-Specific Training and Community Engagement ................................................ 254 13. Implementing the Use of Civil Summonses for Trespass Enforcement by Extending the Criminal Justice Reform Act of 2016. .................................................................................... 257 14. Trauma Informed Training ‒ Community Impact ............................................................ 259 SECTION VII: AREAS FOR POLICY CONSIDERATION .................................................... 260 1. Need for Greater Resources to Accommodate Homeless Youth ..................................... 260 2. NYCHA/TAP Responsibility ........................................................................................... 262 3. Interactions Between NYCHA Tenants and the NYPD ................................................... 264 4. NYPD Practices at Subway Stations ................................................................................ 265 5. Community Investment .................................................................................................... 266 6. Repeal of Civil Rights Law § 50-A .................................................................................. 267 7. Cultural Competency Training ......................................................................................... 272 8. Neighborhood Coordination Officers ............................................................................... 274 9. Community Engagement ‒ Reconciliation ....................................................................... 275 10. Police Trauma ‒ NYPD Employee Assistance Program .................................................. 276 11. Training for Plainclothes Police Officers ......................................................................... 277 12. Criminal Court Search and Seizure Inquiry at Arraignment ............................................ 277 SECTION VIII: PROCESS OBSERVATIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED ......................... 280 SECTION IX: CONCLUSION................................................................................................... 303 SECTION I: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Justice Ariel E. Belen (Ret.) was appointed by Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York in November 2014 to serve as the Facilitator to guide the Joint Remedial Process described in the “Remedies Opinion” in Floyd v. City of New York and Ligon v. City of New York Nos. 08 Civ. 1034 and 12 Civ. 2274. See 959 F. Supp. 2d 668 (S.D.N.Y. 2013). The Remedies Opinion highlighted community input as a “vital part of a sustainable remedy in this case,” and placed the input of those communities “most affected by [the New York City Police Department’s (“NYPD”)] use of stop and frisk” at the “center of the Joint Remedial Process.” In the Court’s view, “If the reforms to stop and frisk are not perceived as legitimate by those most affected, the reforms are unlikely to be successful.” Id. at 686. The Remedies Opinion ordered the Joint Remedial Process to provide supplemental reform ideas in addition to the “Immediate Reforms” overseen by Monitor Peter Zimroth. These supplemental reforms may be no broader than necessary to bring the NYPD into constitutional compliance. CONVENING PHASE In his role as Facilitator, Justice Belen conducted, along with the parties and various stakeholders, a civic engagement process to build relationships with individuals and i organizations most directly impacted by the NYPD’s unconstitutional stop, question and frisk (“SQF”) and trespass enforcement policies. The Facilitator and his Team met with over 40 organizations to obtain input concerning proposed reforms related to the SQF and trespass enforcement practices of the NYPD and to help develop the process by which this community engagement should be conducted. FOCUS GROUP PHASE The Facilitation Team conducted a total of 64 focus group meetings — 40 groups focused on street stops and 24 groups focused on trespass enforcement. These focus groups were done in collaboration with community organizations, advocacy groups, community centers within New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”) developments, and the NYPD. The Facilitation Team also participated with the Monitor in focus groups of NYPD patrol officers, sergeants, lieutenants, commanding officers, and executives. Focus Groups were conducted between October 2015 and February 2017. LEADERSHIP MEETING PHASE The Facilitation Team conducted a total of 19 leadership meetings over the course of the Joint Remedial Process. The goal of the leadership meetings was to seek reform ideas from thought leaders at community, advocacy, clergy and policy organizations. The views shared at these meetings represented the judgement of professionals often based on their direct work with individuals and communities impacted by unconstitutional SQF and trespass enforcement practices. The formal meetings took place between July 2016 and February 2017. ii COMMUNITY FORUM PHASE The Facilitation Team conducted 28 community forums throughout the 5 boroughs between October and December of 2016. The Community Forum Phase produced a series of public proceedings that included collaboration with the NYPD and many grassroots, community, clergy, and police reform organizations. These organizations worked in conjunction with the Facilitation Team to bring communities most impacted by SQF to solutions-oriented conversations in the form of community forums. Nine of the forums included the attendance and active participation of NYPD officers. FINAL REPORT PHASE From January 2017 to March 2018, the Facilitation Team met with the plaintiff teams in the Floyd, Davis, and Ligon cases, as well as the Monitor’s team and the NYPD to further develop and contextualize proposed reforms related to the NYPD’s SQF and trespass enforcement policies. Concurrently, the Facilitation Team collated reform suggestions from the Focus Group, Leadership Meeting, and Community Forum Phases to extract overarching themes for the Final Report.