{"id":1395,"date":"2022-04-12T09:56:17","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T13:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=1395"},"modified":"2022-04-13T09:57:07","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T13:57:07","slug":"how-do-you-keep-public-safe-but-avoid-over-policing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-40-no-3\/how-do-you-keep-public-safe-but-avoid-over-policing\/","title":{"rendered":"How do you keep public safe, but avoid over-policing?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
NOBLE EFFORT — Following the workshop, members of NOBLE gathered for a group photo. Shown third and fourth from the left are PEF member Yamel Speight-Miller and PEF President Wayne Spence.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

April 12, 2022 —<\/em> Criminal justice and public safety weighed heavily on the minds of New Yorkers attending the 2022 New York State Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislators annual conference\u00a0\u00a0 April 8-10 in Albany.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
WELCOME \u2013 PEF Membership Benefits Program Administrator Stephanie McLean-Beathley and PEF Vice President Darlene Williams greet visitors to the union\u2019s booth at the legislative conference.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PEF President Wayne Spence was among five panelists at a popular workshop April 9 on \u201cThe Impact of Restorative Justice in Public Safety, which was sponsored by state Sen. Leroy Comrie and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).\u00a0 The panelists shared their insights and observations about how New York City\u2019s new mayor and how his administration should deal with the uptick in crime while balancing the needs for reform within the criminal justice system and the city\u2019s Department of Corrections.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to Spence, the panelists included Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, New York Police Department Transportation Chief Kim Royster, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison, and Elias Husamudeen, former president of the New York City Corrections Officers Benevolent Association.\u00a0 The workshop was moderated by Geoffrey Eaton, president of the Mid-Manhattan Branch of the NAACP.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spence and Husamudeen stressed the importance of supporting the public employees who provide parole and corrections services.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spence said he recently heard someone suggest that parole duties could be privatized and left to contractors.\u00a0 That is a totally flawed and irresponsible idea, he said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s utter nonsense.\u00a0 There is no vacation for a parole officer.\u00a0 Your responsibility never ends, even when you are on vacation.\u00a0 There is always work to be done.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spence said that when he became a parole officer staffing levels were high enough that the officer could accompany a parolee on a job search and talk to prospective employers about tax breaks and other advantages to help parolees become self-supporting and law-abiding citizens.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had 1,200 parole officers then.\u00a0 Now we have fewer than 800,\u201d Spence said.\u00a0 \u201cHow about funding us and letting us do our jobs?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
SUPPORT PUBLIC EMPLOYEES \u2013 Workshop panelists PEF President Wayne Spence and Elias Husamudeen, former president of the NYC Corrections Officers Benevolent Association, make the case for properly funding public services and letting public employees do their jobs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“We\u2019ve watched policies pack a lot of jails, and now we\u2019re going to unpack jails,\u201d Spence said.\u00a0 Concern for reducing incarceration can go too far and completely overlook how it affects the public.\u00a0 \u201cWhen somebody\u2019s kid gets killed, don\u2019t tell me the killer gets a pass!\u201d\u00a0 His passion on this point drew a strong reaction from the audience.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no criminal justice reform if you don\u2019t include corrections, parole and probation,\u201d Husamudeen said.\u00a0 \u201cReform should be done inside detention centers.\u201d\u00a0 New York City spends approximately 87 percent of its corrections budget on staffing, and that doesn\u2019t leave much for programs to help prisoners learn skills to turn their lives around.\u00a0 Today, you must have at least an associate degree to be hired as a corrections officer in New York City, he said, and 90 percent of the correctional officers have degrees of some kind.\u00a0 They could be sharing skills and teaching prisoners the way it was done several decades ago.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2020, the city Corrections Department paid $25 million to not-for-profits (for services).\u00a0 No one held them accountable,\u201d Husamudeen said.\u00a0 \u201cThe recidivism rate is 43 percent.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gonzalez said it\u2019s important to be careful when partnering with community-based, not-for-profit organizations. The job demands leaders who have demonstrated the necessary skills and experience to support communities and guide residents away from gang violence and other criminal behavior.\u00a0 A big challenge in keeping the public safe, he said, is finding ways to return people who have been convicted of crimes to their communities \u201cin a safe way.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The DA agreed with Husamudeen.\u00a0 \u201cWe know community-based organizations will play a role as we get healthier and crime goes down, but we have to have accountability for the investments when money gets spent, but nothing gets done,\u201d said Gonzalez.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Royster said structure, transparency and accountability are all important when trying to break the pattern of people being repeatedly victimized.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe must have structure (in organizing services) and make sure the right people are working on the right issues.\u00a0 We need to focus resources on the right people and they have to know what\u2019s going on,\u201d Royster said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany people are looking for different solutions besides incarceration,\u201d Gonzalez said.\u00a0 He added that many of the individuals who are convicted of crimes also have mental health and addiction issues that affect their behavior in the community.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Royster said, \u201cWe in the police department need to recognize how people feel and make sure it\u2019s equitable.\u00a0 We need to look at people as human beings.\u00a0 We need to be transparent and work together with other agencies and groups.\u00a0 We must make sure to provide a service to those who are underserved.\u201d\u00a0 Ultimately, she said, \u201cWe have to make sure justice is served.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Harrison commented on the need to \u201chold each level accountable.\u201d\u00a0 He said it\u2019s important to see \u201cwhat kind of assistance and help are we getting them, can we modify our interactions to prevent crime and avoid arrests and putting people before a judge?\u00a0 Every layer of (the criminal justice continuum) \u201cneeds to look at what we can do better.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Members of the audience shared their concerns, ideas and questions.\u00a0 Cynthia Tucker said it is important to do more to give children the skills, knowledge and values they will need as adults.\u00a0 \u201cWe need to educate our children in school so they won\u2019t go to jail,\u201d she said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When an audience member called for police and public services to protect people and \u201clift them up, instead of over-policing,\u201d Royster said she believes, \u201cWe must reform internally, (in order) to reform externally.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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