REMARKS
Speaker Adams Talks About Ending Solitary Confinement and the How Many Stops Act
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9 min
Speaker Adams highlights the unanimous support from the New York Congressional delegation to end solitary confinement and acknowledges families affected by NYPD actions, emphasizing the importance of their struggles in pushing for justice.
She discusses the council's efforts towards enacting legislation aimed at improving police transparency and accountability, specifically mentioning the How Many Stops Act, and details the necessity of the legislation to ensure safer communities. .
Speaker 9
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I want to thank the Democratic members of the New York Congressional delegation who sent the council a letter reaffirming their unanimous support to end solitary confinement.
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House Democrat leader Hakim Jeffries, congressman Adriana Speriat.
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Congressman, Gregory Meeks, congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez, congresswoman Grace Meng, congresswoman Yvette Clark, Congressman Jamal Bowman, congressman Jerry Nadler, congressman Richie Torres, and congressman Dan Goldman.
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Thank you very much for your unrelenting work to secure justice for all New Yorkers.
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Now I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the families of those who have been killed by the NYPD.
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Who recently sent the mayor and the council a letter in support of the How Many Stoops Act.
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Gwen Carr.
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Mother of Eric Garner, Katia Tu Diallo, mother of Amadou Diallo, Valerie Bell, Mother of Shawn Bell, Iris Baez, Mother of Anthony Baez, Mercy Baez, Cousin of Anthony Baez, Sami Feliz, brother of Alan Feliz.
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Gladys Williams, stepmother of Antonio Williams, Sean Williams, father of Antonio Williams, Constance Malcolm, mother of Ramarlie Graham, Ellen Schrewick, mother of Kawasaki Traewick.
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Ricky Traewick, father of Kawasaki Traewick.
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Angie Hicks, aunt of Chantel Davis, her Tetsuya Peterson, aunt of a Kai Girlie, Haaba, mother of Muhammadabad, Natasha Duncan, sister of Chantel Davis, Victoria Davis, sister of Del Ron Small, Carol Gray, mother of Kamani Gray, Margarita Rosario, mother of Anthony Rosario, and aunt of Hilton Vega.
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Our communities are safer because of their work, their courage, and decades long struggle for justice.
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Not despite their pain, but because of it.
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It's what brought us to this moment of progress.
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I thank you all for your work.
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To improve police transparency and accountability for all New Yorkers.
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For some of us in this room, and for New Yorkers across the city.
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The killing of black and Latino people in our own communities at the hands of police officers who are supposed to protect us have become flash points in our lives.
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These are moments when we remember exactly where we were.
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Who we were with and how we felt when we heard about the death of one of our own neighbors.
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For me and my community in Southeast Queens, it was certainly the killing of Shawn Bell, not too far from where I live.
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And the district I now represent.
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It's been nearly 2 decades since Sean's life was taken from his family, his friends, his loved ones.
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But the impact of his killing still reverberates throughout our community.
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He was killed the night before his wedding.
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In a hail of 50 shots by officers.
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Sean's killing was a reminder to black fathers, brothers, mothers, and grandmothers, about the risks we still face even in moments of joy that others may take for granted like the night before wedding.
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That is the history we must always seek to change.
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That how many stops act is a part of these efforts.
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Like communities throughout the city in Southeast Queens, we respect our local precincts and police officers.
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We've worked so hard to forge stronger relationships because that is important to public safety.
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But we need greater transparency and accountability because will only help us build upon the community trust we've developed, which is a prerequisite to building safe communities.
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In honor of Sean Bell and the many other families who have lost loved ones, we must advance this legislation forward.
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Today, The council will be voting to override the mayor's vetoes of introduction 586a of the How many stops Act.
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And introduction 549 a to ban solitary confinement in city jails.
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Public safety, is a collective effort, but it can only be achieved when there is transparency and accountability in policing.
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Transparency fosters the community trust that is necessary to make our neighborhood safer.
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Intro586 of the Harmony Stops Act came out of the 2013 Floyd Versus City of New York Federal Court decision that found the NYPD's use of stop and frisk unconstitutional.
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Through the court's joint remedial process, black and Latino communities most impacted by Stop and Frisk provided their input about the transparency needed.
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For level 1 and level 2 stops.
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Simply put, the origin of this bill is feedback from communities and families most affected.
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Mothers, fathers, daughters and sons, teachers, healthcare workers and essential workers who were stopped and city council members.
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The court appointed federal monitor in that decision recently found 1 of every 4 stops.
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Made by the mayor's reconstituted police unit was unconstitutional and that Black and Latino New Yorkers make up 97% of those stop despite being approximately half of the city's population.
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I want us to sit with those numbers because they tell us something very important.
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They tell us that we have work to do when Black and Latino New Yorkers are disproportionately targeted by police stops, and many are unconstitutional and underreported.
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But because of the gaps in reporting by the NYPD, the public is kept from seeing the full picture.
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It's the same lack of data that allowed Stop and Frisk to worsen years ago.
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Which did not become clear until the public had the data.
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That is why the Council advanced the How many Stocks Act.
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To address the lack of transparency in these investigative police stops.
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The need for basic transparency is clear.
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Black and Latino New Yorkers continue to be disproportionately subjected to unconstitutional stops that go underreported.
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Civilian complaints of misconduct are at their highest levels in a decade.
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These stops can no longer happen in the shadows because the pain and trauma they inflict on communities have long lasting impacts.
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Solidary confinement is globally recognized as torture.
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The isolation of solitary confinement by any name has been proven to cause physical, psychological, and emotional harm, and its use has contributed to continued violence and death on Rikers Island.
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Here in New York City, solitary confinement is almost exclusively inflicted on black and Latino people who are awaiting their day in court and don't have the money to avoid pretrial detention.
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Introduction 549a will improve safety for staff and those detained while allowing the Department of Correction to separate people for safety purposes.
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This bill has been crafted with the input of stakeholders, including corrections experts.
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Impacted families, and the labor unions that represent many workers in the city's jails.
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The humanitarian crisis on Rikers Island cannot continue, and we must no longer rely on failed policies that maintain the status quo.
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It is imperative that city jails are made safer for people who are detained and for the staff who work there.
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We must meet this moment with moral clarity.
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And a commitment to progress because that is how we move forward as a city.
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Our focus on police transparency and the rejection of inhumane practices that exacerbate violence are important steps that advance safety.
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Both bills were passed by this body with a veto proof majority because we believe that all New Yorkers deserved transparency and safety.
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For these reasons and many more, I look forward to our overriding the mayor's vetoes.
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And working together to successfully implement these laws that will make our communities and cities safer for all.
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I now recognize public advocate, Giovanni Williams, for comments.