Pres. Carl Rosen, The United Electrical Workers Union (UE) says: âAll Workers Must Stand Against Police Violence. Black Lives Matter. Defund The Police!â with Pres. Carl Rosen, who describes the UE as âa union that practices rank and file democracy, unity against the boss, solidarity with our allies, internationalism, and aggressive struggleâ says, âwe know which side we are on!â
The protests that have swept our country since the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police in May have put the issue of police violence front and center. Carl Rosen, UE Pres. says organized labor has a special responsibility to speak out on this issue for its members who have experienced violence and harassment from the police due to nothing more than the color of their skin. All workers who struggle for a better life are threatened when the police are used to violently suppress protest. We join the call to âdefund the police.â What does it mean to defund the police? It means reducing police budgets so we can invest in the economic development and social services that are needed to make all communities safe and prosperous. We need more social workers, mental health professionals, child advocates, sexual assault specialists, and other workers who are actually trained to respond to the types of crises that all too frequently fall to police. The feasibility of such an approach is clear in the fact that nearly every other industrialized nation spends less on police, more on social services, and has lower crime rates. ************ Activists Demand Elections for a Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), with Teeth Over Cops! with Black Lives Matters supporters and NYC Council Member Inez Barron
Activists came together to demand elections of a civilian complaint review board with oversight of cops. Speaking outside of the New York Police Departmentâs headquarters in lower Manhattan, Black Lives Matter activists said moderate reform efforts are toothless unless police can be held accountable for misconduct by an elected, independent oversight board. âDefund the police, demilitarize the police, jail killer cops!â said New York City Council Member Inez Barron and New York State Assembly member Charles Barron New York State Assembly
Member Charles Barron with protestors outside of One Police Plaza to announce the introduction of a new bill. A bill that would create an agency that would have more power than the Civilian Complaint Review Board. An agency that would have a bigger effect on policing in the city.
Inez and Charles both introduced legislation that would abolish the CCRB and institute an elected Civilian Review Board, an independent prosecutor and a separate investigative body. The elected board would consist of 21 members.
According to StopPoliceViolence.org, an advocacy group campaigning for an ECRB, the newly-elected board would be held more accountable by New Yorkers due to them being elected, the board would be more empowered to investigate and make binding decisions, it would establish an elected independent prosecutor and force the New York Police Department to fully cooperate with all investigations and decisions.
Juanita Young, the mother of Malcom Ferguson, who was shot and killed by NYPD in 2000, said an independent prosecutor in City Hall is necessary. Young said filing a complaint with the current CCRB is useless. âFor what?â asked Young.
produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg
please notify us if you plan to broadcast this radio program - knash@igc.org
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