A Police State Doesn't Make Us Safer: Shame on Hochul's 5-Point Subway Public Safety Plan

STATEMENT FROM DANIELLE SERED, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COMMON JUSTICE

Common Justice, a nonprofit dedicated to effectively addressing serious violence based in New York City,  vehemently rejects Hochul’s decision to ramp up the presence of law enforcement in New York City subways, as well as her proposal to ban those who have committed violent felonies from riding the subways. As the nation’s first alternative to incarceration and victim service provider that addresses violent felonies in adult courts, we know all too well that such policies would significantly increase the number of Black and brown people who are harmed by law enforcement.

This policy upholds racist stop-and-frisk tactics that intentionally target Black and brown riders. It is punitive, short-sighted, and does not address the root causes of crime. By restricting access to one of the most reliable forms of public transportation in the city, Governor Hochul's "5-Point Subway Safety Plan" will burden struggling families to pay more for alternative transportation methods under the guise of reducing violence.

When will state and city leaders admit that policing does not increase public safety and invest in solutions like affordable housing, mental health treatment, alternatives to incarceration, and support for survivors, all of which have proven to keep New Yorkers safe?

Governor Hochul’s latest push for increased policing and criminalization will not increase public safety. Instead, such intensive surveillance, coupled with exclusionary practices, will only perpetuate inequality. If Governor Hochul truly cared about the well-being of all New Yorkers, regardless of race, class, or conviction history, she would invest more in communities, not a failed police state.