PROP Statement on NYPD’s Strategic Response Group

NEW YORK, NY — Today, the City Council held a hearing on the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group (SRG). This so-called specialized unit has long been the subject of complaints and criticisms about abusive and violent policing, most notoriously regarding NYPD actions during the 2020 George Floyd protests. PROP released the following statement:

“PROP supports calls by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) and its allies to disband the SRG . The NYPD failed to appear at today’s hearing, which had already been rescheduled twice due to the Department’s lack of cooperation. The NYPD’s dismissive response is a slap in the face not only to NYC’s political leaders, but to all New Yorkers who witnessed or were victimized by the well documented excessive use of force by the unit and other cops three years ago.

As is its usual practice, the NYPD refuses to be held accountable for the SRG’s demonstrated misconduct. It is no surprise then that the unit has acted and continues to act with a sense of impunity. In fact, the SRG has had such a long track record of harassing protesters aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement that activists have nicknamed it “the Goon Squad” .

Given how deeply embedded the culture of violence is within the unit and the Department’s studied indifference to it, only the complete dissolution of the SRG will suffice. PROP calls on the City Council to cut the budget for the SRG. Such a step should be taken as part of a broader effort to reduce resources for the Police Department and to re-allocate the funds saved to support local programs and services that strengthen and stabilize families and neighborhoods and advance public safety in all our communities.

PROP also points out that it was an increase in funding for the NYPD and the Department’s headcount in 2015 by members of the City Council that helped to propel the SRG into a force that has harassed Black Lives Matter protesters ever since. The Council helped to create this unit and must now adopt measures needed to put this abusive police genie back in its bottle.”

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