At a hearing of the City Council Committee on Public Safety today, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams highlighted misuse of and misconduct by the NYPD Strategic Response Group, and called for them to be removed from policing protests. He also urged greater transparency from the department, and condemned the administration’s absence at the hearing, itself calling their decision not to attend “shameful, and an affront to this Council and to New York City as a whole.”
The NYPD’s Strategic Response Group (SRG) was originally formed to combat terrorism, and equipped as such, but was quickly deployed to protests. As the Public Advocate stated, “The results of the SRG’s presence at protests have been aggressive and chaotic, and have invariably escalated nonviolent protests into dangerous and violent environments… I myself have had the brunt of over-response to protests, several protests, including SRG, including at Occupy Wall Street and at the George Floyd protests of 2020. I’ve also filmed and witnessed it.”
The Public Advocate also highlighted a high rate of misconduct allegations against the SRG, and a lack of transparency and accountability, noting “ A report published last month examining complaints of police misconduct investigated by the CCRB revealed that the CCRB was only able to substantiate 88 of 321 complaints received. The reason this number is so low is not because misconduct did not occur; rather, NYPD officers engaged in purposeful actions to conceal their identity to avoid identification. The NYPD also impeded CCRB investigations by delaying responses to requests for body-worn camera footage, claiming footage did not exist, turning over the wrong footage, and refusing to be interviewed remotely. I would say some of the things that were substantiated by CCRB in the past, some of the worst ones, are officers lying, on record, and nothing happened.”
After noting that the unit has responded differently to protests based on the cause and makeup of the protestors, the Public Advocate concluded saying “Deploying the SRG to police protests has demonstrably resulted in unnecessary abuse and violence, and their presence should no longer be allowed at protests. It is unsurprising that the SRG frequently uses excessive force, as they are a specialized unit trained to respond to terrorism and violent crime; over time, the NYPD has conflated terrorism and protest, leading to the deployment of officers and militarized gear to largely nonviolent demonstrations.”
The Public Advocate’s full remarks as delivered are below.
STATEMENT AS DELIVERED BY PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS
TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
MARCH 1, 2023
Good morning,
My name is Jumaane D. Williams, and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. I would like to thank Chair Hanks and the members of the Committee on Public Safety for holding this important hearing, and thank everyone for being here. Particularly with the administration and NYPD not being here – I held out hope that they would, I think it’s shameful and an affront to this Council and to New York city as a whole. I understand that there are some legal concerns, I do think just being present, even if it was to read the statement that was submitted, would have shown some respect to the process and to having this conversation in a public forum.
In 2015, the NYPD formed the Strategic Response Group—or SRG—to combat terrorism. This is a voluntary unit that has attracted officers who reportedly want to see “more action,” and outfits them with riot gear and heavy weaponry, including military-grade Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs) and machine guns. Originally, the unit was to consist of 350 officers with a budget of $13 million; quickly, that ballooned to more than 700 officers with nearly $90 million in funds, including $10.2 million in overtime last year alone.
The SRG’s involvement in policing protests, as we have seen, seem to be more about suppressing speech and assembly, and less about keeping everyone safe. Following criticism of the SRG potentially policing large-scale protests, the NYPD claimed in 2015 that the SRG would not be involved in covering protests; however, the NYPD began deploying the SRG to protests later that year.
The results of the SRG’s presence at protests have been aggressive and chaotic, and have invariably escalated nonviolent protests into dangerous and violent environments. The SRG beat protestors with batons; sprayed crowds with pepper spray; rammed into protestors on their bikes; entrapped protestors using barriers such as shields, bikes, and metal gates with no way for people to escape (a tactic known as “kettling”); and blasted crowds with noise cannons. I myself have had the brunt of over-response to protest, several protests, including SRG, including at Occupy Wall Street and at the George Floyd protests of 2020. I’ve also filmed and witnessed it.
Many SRG unit members have multiple misconduct complaints against them: of the 62 SRG officers and supervisors identified by The Appeal in videos from 2020 protests, 46 SRG members had 292 misconduct allegations filed against them with the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB). These complaints included abuse of authority, excessive force, offensive language, and discourtesy. Considering this history, the SRG’s abusive behavior is unsurprising.
Further, a report published last month examining complaints of police misconduct investigated by the CCRB revealed that the CCRB was only able to substantiate 88 of 321 complaints received. The reason this number is so low is not because misconduct did not occur; rather, NYPD officers engaged in purposeful actions to conceal their identity to avoid identification. The NYPD also impeded CCRB investigations by delaying responses to requests for body-worn camera footage, claiming footage did not exist, turning over the wrong footage, and refusing to be interviewed remotely. I would say some of the things that were substantiated by CCRB in the past, some of the worst ones, are officers lying, on record, and nothing happened.
The SRG does not police all protestors equally. This was best exemplified in 2018, when the SRG allowed the Proud Boys to march without a permit, and backed away when they began to beat and shout homophobic slurs at counter-protestors. If my memory serves me correctly, they were also ushered into the train without having to pay their fare. Most recently, the SRG was present at a rally held by an anti-trans group, at which a number of transgender rights activists and supporters counter-protested. The SRG, which those present at the protest reported outnumbered the counter-protestors, engaged in a physical altercation with the counter-protestors, arresting nine.
Deploying the SRG to police protests has demonstrably resulted in unnecessary abuse and violence, and their presence should no longer be allowed at protests. It is unsurprising that the SRG frequently uses excessive force, as they are a specialized unit trained to respond to terrorism and violent crime; over time, the NYPD has conflated terrorism and protest, leading to the deployment of officers and militarized gear to largely nonviolent demonstrations. Even the NYPD referred to their response to the 2020 protests as an “inefficient deployment of resources.”
The SRG’s behavior has resulted in numerous lawsuits and complaints against the NYPD and New York City, resulting in a significant financial burden on a city still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The city must, at a minimum, require greater transparency from the NYPD and the SRG on training, disciplinary records, and allegations of abuse. I look forward to working with the Committee on Public Safety and the City Council, and hopefully, the administration themselves and NYPD, to create safe and equitable communities for all New Yorkers.
I do want to say – it is very hard to be shocked that a unit that was trained to address and deal with terrorism, then sent to deal with nonviolent protests, would now have the kind of response we have seen. I understand the need to have people trained to address and deal with terrorism and violent crime. Sending that same unit to deal with nonviolent protests will only lead to the type of videos and things that we have seen, so hopefully, even without coming to this hearing, there are changes on the way, and I look forward to seeing what that would be.
Thank you.
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