Public Safety Committee Will Hold Hearing On September 8th

NEW YORK — New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Public Safety Committee Chair Vanessa L. Gibson announced today that the New York City Council will convene an oversight hearing on September 8th to learn more about the New York City Police Department’s review of current police department training and its plans to enhance officer trainings. The NYPD’s decision to evaluate current training procedures was a result of the incident that took place in Staten Island with Eric Garner.

“The New York City Police Department is embarking on an ambitious program to re-train all 35,000 officers so this hearing will be a critical way to openly discuss their methodology and procedures,” said Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “The City Council takes its oversight role very seriously and we expect to have a thorough and substantive hearing that will be informative to New Yorkers. Every day, thousands of NYPD officers help keep New Yorkers safe and the hearing will be a chance to continue the improved dialogue between the police and the communities they serve. ”

“Each and every day we depend on thousands of uniformed officers to keep our streets and communities safe, and many New Yorkers are deeply concerned that we have seen encounters with police cost unarmed civilians their lives,” said Council Member Vanessa L. Gibson (D-Bronx, 16th CD), Chair of the Council’s Public Safety Committee. “As people from communities throughout our City join together with the goal of making effective and longstanding reforms to the New York Police Department in the wake of the tragic death of Eric Garner, the Public Safety Committee will leave no stone unturned as we look at the enhanced training program that is designed to improve the NYPD, strengthen public safety and ensure that the constitutional rights of all New Yorkers are respected.”

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