Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - "Things that happen in other places, whether it's George Floyd or Breonna Taylor, somehow have an impact with regards to tensions in the city of Buffalo." Niagara District Common Councilman David Rivera said in an interview on WBEN Thursday morning.
Police reforms are now in focus following the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial in Minneapolis. "We have been working for a number of years to reform the Buffalo Police Department," said Rivera, who chairs the city's Police Oversight Committee. "We've implemented a police advisory committee, which is a group of citizens that meet regularly with the Buffalo Police Department to try to improve the relationship between the community and law enforcement, which has been frayed."
A number of initiatives have been implemented. Body cameras, Cariol Horne law (duty to intervene when another officer is using excessive force). Also, a no choke policy, and limiting no knock warrants have been implemented.
But of all of the changes so far, none is bigger than de-escalation training. "That is at the top," said Rivera. "Our goal is to train officers on how to de-escalate situations whether they are mental health situations or whether they're responding to a 911 call, a domestic, or you name it, de-escalation is very important. We don't want to resort to lethal weapons."
When officers are making split second decisions on the street, how much does policy really matter? Rivera admits it's going to take time. "It's not going to happen overnight. It's a process. It takes time to change the laws. Some things are contractual, some things are legal. There are a number of hurdles to get to where we need to be."
Rivera, who is a former Buffalo police officer, says he can sense the frustration in people. They want it done right away. "We've done what we could, in terms of the Common Council. Our attention is also on the national level to make sure they provide us with the resources and legislation we need to implement many of the things that we want to do."
