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| WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From Chair of the Board of Legislators, Benjamin Boykin. March 24, 2021: The Board of Legislators has officially adopted the report of the County’s Police Reform and Reimagining Task Force in a unanimous vote on Monday night, after weeks of review by the Board’s Public Safety Committee. The adoption of the report establishes a blueprint for police reform intended to promote more equitable policing in Westchester. The 177-page report contains 51 recommendations for the County’s police, correction and other public safety operations including: implicit bias and intercultural competency training for law enforcement personnel a formal review of the County Department of Public Safety’s use of social media for branding and community outreach creation of community liaisons, increased multi-lingual communications training in implicit bias and restorative justice for School Resource Officers, joint de-escalation training with the Department of Correction, increased Police Academy training in procedural justice, cultural diversity and bias-related crimes, creation of a County Office of Police Accountability. In 11 meetings, including a session for public input, over more than a month, the Public Safety Committee took a deep dive into the report recommendations and the process by which those recommendations were arrived. The committee heard from Task Force members, including co-chairs Mayo Bartlett and Leroy Fraser as well as the County’s Department of Public Safety and other law enforcement representatives. The report itself was the culmination of nearly seven months of work by a 38-member Task Force. The Task Force is comprised of thirty-eight members, which include County and local law enforcement professionals, clergy representatives, criminal justice and police reform advocates, human rights professionals, the Executive Director of the Westchester County Youth Bureau, the Executive Director of the Westchester County Human Rights Commission, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, representatives from the Westchester County District Attorney’s office, three Westchester County Legislators, and other public servants. The Westchester County Executive additionally attached six staff liaisons to the Task Force in order to ensure that the group had access to all available resources and assistance. Under Executive Order 203 from Governor Cuomo, all municipalities statewide must adopt a police reform and reimagining plan to the State by April 1. County Executive George Latimer had previously announced plans for a County police reform task force, which he then expanded to address the requirements of the Governor’s order. Read the Westchester County Police Reform and Reimagining Task Force report at: https://www.westchestergov.com/images/stories/pdfs/policereformreport.pdfPlease forward this E-News to family and friends who may be interested in this information. |