PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Dr. Tawanna Gilford, Cofounder of Universal Stop False Police Reporting Initiative, on Stop and Frisk and the Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office
3:52:57
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141 sec
Dr. Tawanna Gilford, a licensed psychologist and cofounder of the Universal Stop False Police Reporting Initiative, testified about the lack of accountability and transparency in stop and frisk cases prosecuted by the Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office. She shared her brother's personal experience with a questionable conviction and called for reforms in the review process for such cases.
- Criticized the Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office for lack of oversight in stop and frisk cases, particularly those originating in NYCHA areas
- Highlighted the inability of borough-based district attorneys to review cases from the Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office
- Called for a provision allowing each borough's conviction review unit to examine cases where officer credibility is questioned
Dr. Tawanna Gilford
3:52:57
Hello.
3:52:58
Good afternoon.
3:53:01
Everyone able to hear me?
3:53:06
Hello?
Yousef Salaam
3:53:08
Yes.
3:53:08
We can hear you.
Dr. Tawanna Gilford
3:53:11
Okay.
3:53:12
Thank you.
3:53:12
Good afternoon, sheriff Salaam, and to the city council public safety committee.
3:53:16
I appreciate the time.
3:53:17
My name is doctor Tijuana Guilford, and I'm the licensed psychologist, in New York state.
3:53:23
I'm also the, cofounder of the Universal Stop False Police Reporting Initiative.
3:53:28
And I'll start, with a very provocative statement by saying the Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office is the place where accountability and transparency around stop and frisk goes to die.
3:53:40
My reason for making such a bold assertion is based on my family experiences and the experiences of other individuals that have been convicted of a questionable stop and frisk that led to a drug conviction in a prosecutorial, office.
3:53:54
My brother, he was convicted and sentenced to six and a half years for a drug crime that he had no participation in, one that did not exist.
3:54:02
But because NYCHA has been deemed a high crime area and because, the PSAEs are working tandem with the specialty narcotics prosecutor's office, there is very little oversight about how those handoffs work, and that's, those were issues that came up during today's testimony.
3:54:22
So we all know that the special narcotics prosecutor is appointed by all 5, borough based district attorneys.
3:54:28
However, these attorneys have no jurisdiction over the special narcotics prosecutor's office and cannot reach in to take a second look at these questionable stop and frisk convictions.
3:54:38
These convictions never received the justice they deserve because there's no objectivity in the review process, and this is what I mean when I say the SMP's office is where justice goes to die.
3:54:49
I'm speaking out in this manner in this out in this manner for my brother, Tariq Guilford, and for all of the other Tariq Guilfords in New York state.
3:54:58
My call to action is for the commission to create a provision that would allow each borough based district attorney's conviction review unit to be granted the ability to pull cases for review when officer credibility had been pulled into question.
3:55:14
As New York has
UNKNOWN
3:55:15
Times expired.
Rita Joseph
3:55:16
Opportunity for justice
Dr. Tawanna Gilford
3:55:17
in this legal system.
