Cuomo cuts off funding for police departments without plan to curb excessive force

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order cutting off funding to police departments that do not develop a plan to curb excessive force against communities of color. Photo via Governor’s Office/Flickr

By David Brand

Under pressure from communities of color and activists statewide, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vowed to cut state funding to local police departments that fail to develop a plan for curbing excessive use of force against Black New Yorkers.

Cuomo signed an executive order Friday that requires departments, including the NYPD, to develop a plan to address over-policing in collaboration with local communities. The executive order comes in response to weeks of statewide protests following the police killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man in Minnesota.

“The protests taking place throughout the nation and in communities across New York in response to the murder of George Floyd illustrate the loss of community confidence in our local police agencies — a reality that has been fueled by our country's history of police-involved deaths of black and brown people,” Cuomo said.

The plans necessary to receive state funding will “restore trust” between cops and communities of color, he added. 

 Under the new measure, departments must develop a plan by April 1, 2021 in order to receive state funding. Each agency must present the plan to the public for comment, consider feedback and present the plan to the town council or legislature and go revise the plan if it is rejected.

Cuomo announced the executive order on the same day he signed legislation repealing 50-a, a section of state criminal law that has shielded police disciplinary records from review since 1976.