Police Oversight: Toolkit
Police Oversight: Toolkit
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Pass The BPD Oversight Law
The Buffalo Police Advisory Board has submitted draft legislation to the Common Council to establish a new oversight board that would hold police accountable. The new body would be composed of community members only, and would have the power to subpoena power to investigate complaints and, most importantly, a process for making sure police are disciplined or fired for misconduct.
Demands
1. The Common Council should pass into law the recommended oversight structure proposed by the Buffalo Police Advisory Board
2. The Council should bring the draft legislation up for discussion in the Legislation Committee
3. The Council should vote on the law before
4. Mayor Brown should publicly support the law, include pieces of the legislation in his Police Union negotiations and rapidly sign it after it is passed by the Council.
Commission On Community
Police Oversight
Composed of:
- 5 community members elected at-large
- 5 community members appointed by BPAB
- 1 chairperson elected by the other 10
Duties:
- Receive complaints about police
- Fully investigate complaints using subpoena power
- Issue disciplinary recommendation to Disciplinary Committee (3 BPAB members)
- Disciplinary Committee accepts recommendations from Commission & Police Commissioner and issues decision
- Funded by 1% of police-related budget lines
Buffalo Police
Advisory Board
Composed of:
11 community members
New powers:
- Approve or reject new BPD policy
- Set new BPD policy with Council approval
- Select candidates for police commissioner
- Have subpoena power
- Review and hold hearing on police budget
- Require annual report from Police Commissioner
- Funded by 1% of police-related budget lines
Independent - Elected
Civilian - Community, not cops or politicians
Oversight - real consequences
ACTION: TOOLKIT
Why Does This Matter?
Why Does This Matter?
During COVID one of the only way elected officials hear from their representatives are by phone, email and social media, so this is how city legislatures hear from YOU what matters to YOU.
Call, Email, And Tweet At The Common Council And Mayor Brown!
Call, Email, And Tweet At The Common Council And Mayor Brown!
Select your council Member:
| District | Representative | Phone Number | Twitter Handle | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Masten District |
Ulysees Wingo
|
(716) 851-5145 |
uwingo@city-buffalo.com |
@uwingosr |
|
Ellicott District
|
Darius Pridgen
|
(716) 851-4980
|
dpridgen@city-buffalo.com |
@DariusPridgena |
|
Fillmore District
|
Mitch Nowakowski
|
(716) 851-4138
|
mnowakowski@city-buffalo.com |
@MitchNowakowski |
|
University District
|
Rasheed Wyatt
|
(716) 851-5165
|
rwyatt@city-buffalo.com |
@RasheedWyatt |
|
Niagara District
|
David Rivera |
(716) 851-5125
|
darivera@city-buffalo.com |
N/A |
|
South District
|
Christopher Scanlon
|
(716) 851-5169
|
cscanlon@city-buffalo.com |
@CMChrisScanlo |
|
Delaware District
|
Joel Feroleto
|
(716) 851-5155
|
jferoleto@city-buffalo.com |
@JoelFeroleto |
|
Lovejoy District
|
Bryan Bollaman
|
(716) 851-5151
|
bbollman@city-buffalo.com |
@Bollman4Lovejoy
|
|
North District |
Joseph Golombek |
(716) 851-5116 |
jgolombek@city-buffalo.com |
@golombek4reform |
|
All Districts |
Council Staff |
(716) 851-5105 |
N/A |
@BFLO_CC |
|
Mayor’s Office |
Byron Brown |
(716) 851-4866*
(Executive assistant) |
mayor@city-buffalo.com |
@MayorByronBrown |
Sample Script
Hi, Councilman/Mayor ________. My name is _______ and I live in the _____ district and I’m contacting you regarding oversight of the Buffalo Police Department.
In just the last 3 months we saw Buffalo police officers beat Quentin Suttles, tackle Myles Carter and push Martin Gugino to the ground, and yet all of these officers are still on the force being paid with our tax dollars. It’s clear that the police department isn’t willing to discipline its own officers, and the existing review board isn’t working. We need an independent civilian oversight board with real power to hold police accountable! I’m calling to ask you to publicly support the legislation put forward by the Buffalo Police Advisory Board, with no changes. Please bring this legislation up for discussion in the next Legislation Committee, bring it to a vote and vote YES. Thank you for your time.
Sample Tweets
- • The whole world saw it right in front of City Hall – Buffalo cops are out of control. Reign them in with independent civilian oversight as proposed by the BPAB! @BFLO_CC @MayorByronBrown
- • Soooo @BFLO_CC are you going to take action on this legislation or just table it and hope we forget? (Spoiler: We won’t). See here.
- • @BFLO_CC We need an independent civilian oversight board with real power to hold police accountable, support the legislation put forward by BPAB, no changes.
- • Who polices the police? At the moment, no one @BFLO_CC & @MayorByronBrown support the independent civilian oversight as proposed by the BPAB.
