Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement after newly reported data showed clear racial disparity in social distancing enforcement actions by the NYPD.
The Public Advocate first called for the release of this data last month, and reiterated his calls after several photos and videos showed disparate enforcement among communities and people of more color.
"The administration stalled to deliver this data, and now we know why. After weeks of pressure, this reveals what we suspected, feared, and warned against - 68% of arrests for social distancing violations were of Black New Yorkers, 24% Hispanic, and 7% white. This virus has disproportionately claimed thousands of black and brown bodies, and now, in response, it is black and brown bodies facing the kind of over-policing never seen in other communities.
"As we approach another warm weather weekend, we cannot allow the same inequities and injustices in social distancing enforcement that were clear throughout the city last week. The same standards and methods need to be applied in the West Village as in East New York, and those methods need to be redefined. Maintaining public health policies cannot be centered on a law enforcement response - it needs to be community-centered with the focus on promoting safe practices with a holistic response incorporating all holistic community response, not aggressively penalizing lapses. Distributing masks, not summonses. As we've long said, funding for outreach efforts need to go to community groups and leaders, clergy and cure violence organizations, while enlisting city agencies to raise awareness with New Yorkers so we can shift toward a community response, not a police response.
"Social distancing and mask mandates are about public health and public safety, but public safety does not equate to over-policing."
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