PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jacqueline Gosdigian, Supervising Policy Counsel at Brooklyn Defender Services, on NYPD's Use of Stop and Frisk and Other Investigative Encounters
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Jacqueline Gosdigian, Supervising Policy Counsel at Brooklyn Defender Services, testified about the NYPD's use of stop and frisk and other investigative encounters. She emphasized the need for public transparency and accountability in policing practices, highlighting the disproportionate impact on marginalized communities and the importance of data collection through the How Many Stops Act.
- Gosdigian called for the elimination of the NYPD gang database and passage of Intro 798.
- She criticized the increasing NYPD budget, particularly the $54 million spent on ineffective ShotSpotter technology.
- The testimony highlighted the ongoing issues of racial disparities in policing and the need for greater accountability for officers engaging in biased behavior.
Jacqueline Gosdigian
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My name is excuse me.
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My voice is is, almost gone at this point.
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My name is Jackie Gazzigian.
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I'm supervising policy counsel at Brooklyn Defender Services.
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I've been a public defender for 15 years, and I wanna thank the committee, public the Public Safety Committee and Chair Salam for the opportunity to address the council about New York City Police Department's use of stop and frisk and other investigative encounters.
3:39:57
Public transparency is an essential measure for holding the NYPD accountable for the discriminatory and abusive policing practices they employ.
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These practices criminalize and harm New Yorkers disproportionately black and latin New Yorkers, LGBTQIA plus New Yorkers, and New Yorkers experiencing housing insecurity.
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Discriminatory and abusive policing practices make all New Yorkers less safe.
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And in order to make our city safer for all our community members, the city council must take action now to ensure greater transparency and accountability.
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The federal monitor report, which we've already talked a lot about today, indicates the NYPD is moving in the wrong direction, conducting more unlawful stops, more unlawful frisks, and more unlawful searches.
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The gang narrative is used to justify even more aggressive stops, summonses, arrests, and surveillance than before stop and frisk was declared unconstitutional.
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In the last several years, thousands of New Yorkers have been swept up in so called gang raids or takedowns, nearly all of them black or latin.
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The city council must move to eliminate the gang database and pass intro 798, which would abolish the NYPD gang database altogether.
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Public defenders usually become aware of police misconduct in connection with an encounter that results in arrest.
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It's only after an arrest that someone is brought to court and speaks with their attorney about what happened to them.
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The vast majority of police citizen encounters that do not result in arrest go unreported or overlooked.
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That is why data from the How Many Stops Act is critical.
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Our hope is that this data will assist the city and the public in monitoring and regulating the actions of the NYPD.
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The ever increasing budget of NYPD is also a concern.
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You already heard my colleague talk about ShotSpotter Technology.
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That technology has a $54,000,000 price tag and absolutely does not work.
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It also provides tech technical justification for disproportionate deployment to black and Latino neighborhoods to stop, frisk, and harass New Yorkers when that technical alert is neither accurate nor valid.
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As defenders, we see how black and Latino New Yorkers are disproportionately targeted for stops and arrests and how individual officers who engage in racist, bias, or hateful behavior remain on the job.
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We cannot allow these biases to continue to entangle New Yorkers in the criminal legal system.
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Thank you.
