Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement in response to Mayor Bill de Blasio's announcement of a revised approach to social distancing enforcement intended to limit summonses, after data showed deep racial disparities in enforcement and cases of aggressive over-policing surfaced.
"After more than a month of pressure from our office and many others, I'm relieved that the administration is acting to reduce the unequal over policing in social distancing enforcement that we predicted, warned against, and offered alternatives to. More masks and fewer summonses are definitely a positive step. It is also heartening to hear that this effort will begin to push education as the integral tool to compliance. It will mean fewer summonses, fewer arrests, and thankfully for the administration, fewer viral videos. While this new approach may finally be the "lighter touch" that the administration had claimed in recent days, we still need more forward movement. As we have seen with marijuana, lowering the overall number of enforcement actions is not the same as reducing the racial disparities in those actions.
"Any reset of social distancing enforcement efforts need to be driven not by police, but as our office has consistently called for, by community leaders and credible messengers such as the Crisis Management System (Cure Violence Groups) in the Office of Neighborhood Safety. We also need to see other non-law enforcement agencies engage in a holistic community approach aimed at education and resources- many have the capacity to do so, particularly those with city vehicles.
"As the weather gets warmer, I hope these are facts and policies the Mayor and Commissioner can acknowledge and support. Our city is depending on us all."
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