Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by Neferkara Aaron on policing as a public health issue and the need for a stronger CCRB
3:43:13
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134 sec
Neferkara Aaron, a public health student and Brooklyn native, testifies about the need for a stronger Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB).
She shares her personal experiences with police misconduct in her neighborhood and argues that from a public health perspective, policing directly impacts a community's mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
She urges the commission to propose revisions that give the CCRB binding disciplinary authority and direct access to NYPD misconduct records.
- Aaron argues that policing is a public health issue.
- She has witnessed police abuse their power in her community without consequence.
- She believes the CCRB cannot provide independent oversight without true independence.
- She calls for charter revisions to give the CCRB binding disciplinary authority and access to misconduct records to ensure real accountability.
Cheryl Williams
3:43:13
Hello.
3:43:14
Good evening.
3:43:17
My name is Cheryl Williams, and I'm speaking as a concerned American citizen and patriot.
3:43:24
I wanna see America live up to the full measure of its promise, liberty and justice for all.
3:43:31
Now I'll quote James Baldwin.
3:43:34
I love America more than any other country in the world.
3:43:38
And exactly for this reason, I must insist on the right to criticize her.
3:43:45
This country is both more beautiful and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.
3:43:53
Thank you, uncle Jimmy.
3:43:55
So let's sit with the uncomfortable truths of our shared history rather than to whitewash it.
3:44:04
That James Baldwin quote speaks to me not because of bitterness, but with a deep belief in what America promises.
3:44:12
My mom passed away last year.
3:44:15
Tomorrow would have been her 90 birthday.
3:44:19
She grew up under Jim Crow in the South where the signs read white only, color.
3:44:27
I believe she died hoping that her children and all children of every background, race, or belief would never again have to live under that kind of tyranny.
3:44:41
But here we are.
3:44:43
Under Jim Crow, it was poll taxes and literacy tests.
3:44:48
Today, it's party affiliation laws.
3:44:52
As a registered independent, I help fund elections that I'm barred from participating in.
3:45:00
Closed primaries exclude millions of voters.
3:45:04
If you believe in democracy, and I think this commission does, then you must act accordingly.
3:45:10
It's time for every voter, regardless of party, to have a voice in shaping the ballot.
3:45:16
Let independence in.
3:45:18
Let the voices of the many be heard.
3:45:21
Put please put top two primaries on the ballot in November.
3:45:26
Thank you.