Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement today calling on the city and state to suspend broken windows arrests and similar criminal penalty enforcement policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to vulnerable populations.
"Over-incarceration and the approach to broken windows policing have long been a disastrous approach devastating lives and communities. Now, amid the rapid spread of COVID-19, the public health danger is even greater and more acute. I'm calling on the NYPD to suspend non-violent, so-called victimless quality of life arrests which could increase exposure rates among at-risk individuals, and calling on the Department of Correction to release those who are most at risk from incarceration, where the close-quarters contact of our jails represents an immediate danger. "New York State, right now, is showing itself willing to use incarcerated labor to respond to COVID-19, but not to adequately protect incarcerated people from it. The city must do better. If we value safety in this city, we value safety. If we value health, we value health. If we value each other, we value each other. If we continue to knowingly expose the most vulnerable New Yorkers to this disease through over policing of broken-windows offenses, those values are laid bare."
This follows a virtual press conference on the issue with Council Member Brad Lander, Communities United for Police Reform, and a coalition of criminal justice advocates. More information is available here.
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