Editor’s note: This press release was provided Westchester County.

(White Plains, NY) – Following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May of 2020, Westchester County Executive George Latimer acted quickly to establish a working group of various stakeholders to review procedures and policies at the Westchester County Police Academy.  In addition to this review, the Task Force is also charged with responding to Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 203, requiring each local government to develop a police reform plan with community input in order to reinvent and modernize police strategies and programs within the County’s Department of Public Safety.

The 35-member working group, known as the Westchester County Police Reform and Reimagining Task Force, consists of the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, individuals with law enforcement and criminal justice backgrounds, the Executive Director and members of the Westchester County Human Rights Commission, as well as black clergy, legal aid, County legislators, nonprofit organizations and criminal justice advocates. Co-chaired by Leroy Frazer and Mayo Bartlett, the Task Force has been charged with performing a comprehensive review of current deployments, strategies and procedures at the County Department of Public Safety, and with public input, developing a more modernized plan to improve the Department.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer said: “In Westchester County, we are committed as a County government to take action that is within our authority and within our jurisdiction. Over the past several months our Task Force has made significant progress, reviewing in great detail our current police policies, and developing ways to make our practices refreshed and new again. We salute the many men and women who put on their uniform each day to protect us and perform the highest level of services. And we will also make sure that every police officer, new or old, understands how we avoid and place racism or any bias behavior while they are on duty.”

The Task Force has been broken up into six working groups to tackle important and specific components of policing and police reform: Transparency, Accountability, Community Engagement, Training and Equipment, Qualification and Recruitment, Policies and Procedures. Since July, the Task Force has met twice, conducted several virtual and in-person public forums, and each Task Force member has participated in ongoing meetings with their corresponding working groups.

The following links are available from the Task Force’s first round of in-person and virtual forums conducted in August 2020:

In-person Forums:

Mount Kisco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzjQd6pXR6c

New Rochelle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9-Emximm8U

Yonkers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3PQaqijEjY

White Plains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWRuw-dpDKY

Peekskill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIWCHGQOoQ0

On-line Forums:

Westchester County Police Reform and Reimagining Task Force Public Online Forum, August 13, 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBR_WULWXPU

Westchester County Police Reform and Reimagining Task Force Public Online Forum, August 18, 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiSlYMst9M0

In response to an Executive Order signed by Governor Cuomo, the Task Force will finalize a report on police reform by the end of 2020 to be submitted to the County Executive for his review. In return, the County Executive will send the report to the Westchester County Board of Legislators for their review and legislative approval in early 2021.

The next round of in-person public forums will be held on Tuesday, October 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the following locations:

Mount Vernon:

Dole Center

250 South 6^th Avenue

Mount Vernon, NY 10550

Cortlandt:

The Muriel H. Morabito Community Center

29 Westbrook Drive

Cortlandt, NY 10567

White Plains:

Eastview Middle School Auditorium

350 Main Street

White Plains, NY 10601

An additional digital forum will also be held where residents are invited to speak. People looking to submit written comments should direct them to [email protected]