police reform

(Airs 9/10/26 @ 3 p.m.) The Legislative Gazette is a weekly program about New York State Government and politics. On this week’s Gazette:Senator Schumer travels to Plattsburgh to announce infrastructure funding, we’ll talk with the Albany Times Union's Sarah Trafton about the state of police reform, and State Comptroller DiNapoli releases two reports on the recovery of lower Manhattan as the country marks 25 years since the 9/11 terror attacks.

(Airs 9/10/26 @ 3 p.m.) The Legislative Gazette is a weekly program about New York State Government and politics. On this week’s Gazette:Senator Schumer travels to Plattsburgh to announce infrastructure funding, we’ll talk with the Albany Times Union's Sarah Trafton about the state of police reform, and State Comptroller DiNapoli releases two reports on the recovery of lower Manhattan as the country marks 25 years since the 9/11 terror attacks.

Albany Times Union reporter Sarah Trafton recently took a deep dive into where things stand with the state's police reform initiatives.

The city of Springfield, Massachusetts, appears to be looking to end a consent decree that's been guiding its police department’s conduct.

The City of Troy hosted a community discussion with police this week, a culmination of two years of work to build relationships with lower-income and minority communities. But, local activists say their voices are going unheard.

After years of discussion, the City of Saratoga Springs now has a fully-formed Civilian Review Board to foster communication between the public and city police department. The new CRB held its first meeting Thursday night.

The Board of Police Commissioners has struggled in its first year

"Walk the Walk: How Three Police Chiefs Defied The Odds and Changed Cop Culture" by sociologist Neil Gross, brings readers deep inside three unusual departments—in Stockton, California; Longmont, Colorado; and LaGrange, Georgia—whose chiefs signed on to replace that aggressive culture with something better: with models focused on equity before the law, social responsibility, racial reconciliation, and the preservation of life.

Reforming police has been much more political than it ought to be. Too many treat it as part of a for-them-or-against them conversation. That’s nonsense and naïve. Police are like the rest of us. Whether folk are in blue jackets, white coats, overalls or suits, some are great and some are terrible. If we protect the group willy-nilly despite misbehavior, or allow them, their departments and unions to gang up against the public as if we’re the enemy, we’re authorizing armed men to become tyrants. Police need to be scrutinized, held in check and prevented from misbehavior, particularly because we let them carry guns. Treating them as beyond control is a large part of the problem.

Gregory Mitchell is Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Williams College. He joins us to discuss his new book, “Panics without Borders: How Global Sporting Events Drive Myths about Sex Trafficking.”