Mayor Outlines NYPD Reforms In Wake Of George Floyd Protests

NEW YORK, NEW YORK — New Yorkers should prepare for 18 months of "intense change" for the NYPD, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday.

De Blasio announced four NYPD reforms — the first of many to come, he promised in the wake of massive protests over the killing of George Floyd and police brutality.

The reforms are:

• Shift funds from NYPD to youth and social services
• Repeal the 50-a police disciplinary records law
• Give civilians control over vendor enforcement
• Set up community ambassadors within NYPD leadership

"This is a transformative moment, so the actions today are a beginning," he said. "I expect us urgently, incessantly work for change for 18 months until the very last day we’re here. I expect you to see and feel a different reality in the NYPD and in this city as a whole."

A racial disparity task force helped craft the proposals, de Blasio said. It was set up not as protests raged, but as the new coronavirus pandemic laid bare disparities affecting black and brown New Yorkers, he said.

"Defund the police" has been a rallying cry for protests. De Blasio didn't specify how much money would be shifted from NYPD to youth and social services programs.

The new funding levels will be hashed out in the next three weeks, he said.

"It's something that will obviously be negotiated in the budget process," he said.

De Blasio, when asked why it took so long into his administration to propose tangible reforms, didn't directly answer. He said the administration has enacted more than six years of change within the NYPD and will continue to press forward.

The police disciplinary process needs to move faster in New York City, he said. He pointed out NYPD officers seen violently shoving and pepper spraying protesters have been suspended without pay awaiting further discipline.

"It is going to move faster and be more appropriate," he said of NYPD discipline going forward.