UPDATE: Week of action kicks off Sunday, 02/26. ColorOfChange is proud to be part of this coalition.
Tuesday's New York Times highlights the launch of New York City's Communities United for Police Reform, a campaign that seeks to "build a lasting movement that promotes public safety and policing practices based on cooperation and respect– not discriminatory targeting and harassment." The Times article points to the problem:
The Police Department’s use of stop-and-frisks has increased significantly under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Figures released last week showed that police officers stopped and questioned people 684,330 times in 2011, a 14 percent increase over 2010 and a roughly 600 percent increase from a decade ago. As in previous years, the vast majority of those stopped — 87 percent — were Black or Latino.
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When Stephen Anderson testified in early October that planting drugs on people had become regular practice in the New York Police Department, the news validated what many NYC residents and victims of abusive police practices have long known. When officers face pressure to increase arrests, communities -- especially communities of color and low-income communities -- suffer. As ColorofChange celebrates a campaign victory in the fight to end discrinatory marijuana arrests in NYC, Anderson's story reminds us just how entrenched corruption is in our criminal justice system.
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