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Hudson Mayor announces police reforms
Jun 16, 2020 6:30 am
On June 15, there were not any local protests about the police murder of George Floyd for the first time in many days. But there still was much racial justice news in the area. Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson held a press conference June 15 to announce several police reforms. Next to Police Commissioner Peter Volkmann, Police Chief Ed Moore, and City Attorney Cheryl Roberts Johnson said Hudson would reduce its police budget by 10 percent; provide treatment for substance abuse; prohibit no-knock warrants "except when essential to safety of the city;" install a police hiring freeze; not take surplus military equipment or military gear; create a police Reconciliation and Advisory committee; enforce a “Duty to intervene” policy when another officer is using excessive force; start an extensive data collection on monthly call logs; and hold community and police conversations four times a year. CLICK HERE TO PLAY BRIEF EXCERPT OF JOHNSON'S PRESS CONFERENCE. In Albany, Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues to sign a slew of police reforms passed last week by the Democrats in the State Senate and Assembly. New York State of Politics reports that Assemblyperson Pat Fahy is introducing another bill. This one would protect police officers who report bad acts by other cops. "We have to make sure that internally, when officers step up to address misconduct within their own ranks, that they themselves do not suffer any retaliation," Fahy said. Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple seemed to agree with that legislation in a recent letter sent to the Albany County Legislature that said, "any member observing another member using force that they believe to be beyond that which is reasonable, has a duty to intercede to prevent the use of unreasonable force." Now even Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that national Republicans are developing “a serious proposal to reform law enforcement." Reportedly, the Republicans legislation would ban police use of chokeholds. Democrats have already proposed banning chokeholds, and many more police reforms. Recently, a Republican Senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, blocked passage of a bill to make lynching a federal hate crime.