Jasmine Marie
1:03:08
Name is Jasmine Marie, and I've been a part of this community for about five years now.
1:03:14
I'm not a native, but I absolutely love Brooklyn, and I call it home.
1:03:20
I have never testified here before, so I just wanna thank you all individually and collectively for the work you are doing to make New York a better place.
1:03:30
I'm here today to speak with the council about the alarming lack of police accountability.
1:03:35
I've had friends and neighbors experience police misconduct from unlawful search and seizure to profiling and assault.
1:03:43
These moments are devastating, especially when they're met with no recourse.
1:03:49
I understand that the CCRB, the civilian complaint review review board, was established to hold the police accountable, but there needs to be some changes.
1:04:00
These complaints take way too long to be investigated due to lack of police compliance with things like gathering worn body footage.
1:04:07
Also, the vast majority of valid complaints go unpunished because the police chief has to agree with the punishment.
1:04:13
I believe the CCRB is well intentioned organization doing their absolute best, and I do believe they are vital to protecting public trust in our law enforcement.
1:04:23
In order for the CCRB to be able to make an impact, I'm asking the commission to please consider two very important reforms.
1:04:32
The first being giving the CCRB the power to make binding disciplinary decisions without the need of the police chief to approve.
1:04:40
The second is to allow the CCRB access to body camera footage or worn body footage to be able to conduct investigations without waiting for access to be granted to them, which is why some of these complaints end up timing out because they don't get the footage they need to actually conduct an investigation in in a timely manner.
1:05:01
I wanna be clear that this is not an attack on the police, but rather accountability so that we can put our trust in those who are meant to protect us.
1:05:09
I am by no means an expert.
1:05:10
I am a producer, and project manager.
1:05:15
But as the CCRB stands, so many people will continue to lack trust, and that is not a world that any of us wanna live in.
