READ MORE: Lockwood to Buffalo Common Council: “I wouldn’t say we’ve lost public trust"
“People are still scared if they get pulled over,” Christian Parra, a community organizer for Citizens Action, said and recognized past officer shootings of Rafael “Pito” Rivera and Wardel “Meech” Davis. “It’s not safe out here by these cops…I’ve been impacted in the sense of knowing people who have passed away in the hands of cops. Is the community safe? No. They’re saying ‘FTP’ to the police. It stands for ‘free the people’ but it also stands for ‘f**k the cops’ and ‘f**k the police’. It’s very difficult for people in our communities to trust the police.”
City leaders attempted to publicly dive further into the negotiations between the city and the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association, though city lawyers halted the efforts.
“There’s some issues that need to be part of the contract when we’re talking about police reform,” Council President Darius Pridgen said. “I would just hope that those who are in the room talking over the contract would be very clear of what that direction is because what was okay may have been okay a month ago or two months ago but may not be okay in certain instances.”
“I think we have one shot at this,” University District Councilman Rasheed Wyatt said. “I think to have people at the table and have these open and honest conversations is the best way to do it.”
The board also wants the Buffalo Common Council to have approval to remove officers for “just cause”. They also want additional oversight with the creation of a community police oversight commission. That commission would be led by a mixture of individuals elected by city residents, nominations from the BPAB, and other appointment and have the ability to subpoena and discipline officers when appropriate.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown has already announced some reforms, including a formal ban on the use of chokeholds. Parra said the initial steps by the mayor was productive but he hopes more will be done soon.
“There’s going to be impacts by these small steps but, in general, I’m not satisfied yet,” Parra said. “The next phase is to talk about the tickets and the just fair fines and fees. Just thinking about what that is going to entail because of COVID and evictions that are about to happen rapidly, especially in our history that we’ve never seen this many evictions.”
Parra said he hopes down the line there will be a reallocation of the Buffalo Police budget to focus on dealing with issues such as mass incarcerations or for trainings on racial justice.
“Let’s try different trainings to see how they de-escalate situations when they’re actually dealing with someone that can be difficult or someone who is going through a mental illness,” Parra said.
Parra suggested that if their demands are not met in a timely manner that protests would continue.