PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Mylana Gerard, Coordinator of Youth Initiatives at Bronx Community Justice Center, on Stop and Frisk and Gang Database
3:45:20
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153 sec
Mylana Gerard, representing the Bronx Community Justice Center and the Games Coalition, testified on the harmful impacts of stop and frisk and the NYPD's gang database on vulnerable communities, particularly young people and people of color. She emphasized the racialized nature of these practices and their negative effects on community-police relationships.
- Stop and frisk disproportionately impacts young people and predominantly black and brown neighborhoods
- The NYPD's gang database is 99% black or Latino, with children as young as 11 being added without requiring criminal conduct
- Gerard urged the council to move away from broad strokes policing and focus on community programs developed in partnership with residents
Mylana Gerard
3:45:20
Good afternoon, chair Salaam.
3:45:22
My name is Mylana Gerard, and I serve as the coordinator of youth initiatives at the Bronx Community Justice Center, an initiative of the Center For Justice Innovation.
3:45:31
I am also here today representing the Games Coalition.
3:45:33
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
3:45:36
Ample research shows that the practice of stop and frisk continues to harm vulnerable communities' relationships with the police.
3:45:43
A study of young people living in highly patrolled high crime areas in New York City found that 88% of young people believed residents of their neighborhood did not trust the police.
3:45:54
The use of stop and frisk is deeply racialized and disproportionately impacts young people.
3:46:00
9 of the 10 precincts with the highest stop rates have been in predominantly black and brown neighborhoods.
3:46:06
In the last 2 decades, 18 to 24 year olds were stopped at a rate of 2,070 for every 1,000 residents in the same age group.
3:46:14
New Yorkers between the ages of 15 17 were stopped at an even higher rate, 2,127 stops per 1,000 residents.
3:46:22
Stop and frisk is being used to populate the NYPD's gang database, creating another deeply racialized tool with 99% of people in the database being black or Latino.
3:46:33
This hyper surveillance has resulted in children as young as 11 being added to the database, marking them for life as they cannot be removed once added.
3:46:42
No criminal conduct whatsoever is required to be identified as a gang member.
3:46:47
At the Bronx Community Justice Center, our SOS team, which works to disrupt incidents childhood friend is enough to have them placed in the database.
3:47:10
Participants living in NYCHA say that they are regularly targeted for the database simply as a result of where they live.
3:47:16
Like the stop and frisk narrative, gang affiliation is defined so broadly that NYPD can capture any neighborhood or individual they deem suspicious.
3:47:25
Residents deserve to feel safe in the communities they reside in.
3:47:28
Over policing and surveillance conducted through methods such as stop and frisk and the gang database fracture trust and disproportionately harm young people and people of color.
3:47:38
Community programs developed in partnership with residents empower young people, providing them with an abundance of tools and resources to flourish.
3:47:46
We urge the council to leave broad strokes policing behind, relying instead on tailored programming that suits residents' needs.
3:47:53
Thank you.
