Share This Article
It’s nearly five years since the police killing of Eric Garner raised the heat on a simmering local conversation about policing and race. Since then, stop-and-frisk and arrests have plummeted, and bail and discovery laws have been reformed. Yet there are plenty of reminders this summer that key criminal-justice issues remain unresolved.
On the presidential campaign trail, Bill de Blasio has once again featured concerns about his son Dante’s potential interactions with police officers. At a public hearing on Wednesday, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on the mayor’s controversial plan to build four new borough jails in order to close Rikers. The city awaits the NYPD’s disciplinary decision in the case of the officer charged with using a prohibited chokehold on Garner. And in the Democratic primary for Queens district attorney, candidates clashed over how far criminal-justice reform should go; with that race still unsettled, the future shape of reform in Queens remains in doubt.
On WBAI’s “Max & Murphy Show” Wednesday, NY1’s Juan Manuel Benitez updated listeners on the recount in that Queens DA primary. Then Anthonine Pierre of the Brooklyn Movement Center, a member of Communities United for Police Reform discussed the state of criminal-justice reform in 2019.
Hear the full show or either interview below:
Max & Murphy: Queens DA Primary Race Drags On
Max & Murphy: The State of NYC Police Reform, 2019
Max & Murphy: July 10, 2019