S.T.O.P. Welcomes OIG Report On NYPD ‘Gang Database,’ Renews Call For Ban

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Welcomes OIG Report On NYPD ‘Gang Database,’ Renews Call For Ban The Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD report on NYPD’s so-called gang database comes after five years of investigation in response to pressure from civil rights groups. (New York, NY, 4/18/23) - Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, welcomes an Inspector General report detailing abuses of the NYPD’s so-called ‘gang database.’ The report comes after five years of OIG investigation and tireless advocacy from civil rights groups since 2017. The report found NYPD has unclear, unenforced procedures for including New Yorkers in the database, and that NYPD has violated its own procedures for entries. S.T.O.P. welcomed the report’s long-awaited release but condemned its statement that the OIG could not verify any evidence of harm from the gang database, given the well-documented racism of its enforcement. The civil rights group renewed its call on the City Council to enact a full ban on the database. SEE: OIG Report - An Investigation into NYPD's Criminal Group Database https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doi/reports/pdf/2023/16CGDRpt.Release04.18.2023.pdf “Advocates have been fighting for this report for years, and we’re happy to finally see the Inspector General follow through,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Legal Fellow Nina Loshkajian. “But it’s preposterous to suggest the gang database may not cause harm when 99% of the New Yorkers included in it are Black and Latinx, many of them children. Racist digital stop-and-frisk is the only clear process NYPD uses in managing the gang database. There is no fixing it and the City Council must abolish it once and for all.” SEE: Gothamist - Report on NYPD's gang database, promised for months, has been delayed https://gothamist.com/news/report-on-nypds-gang-database-promised-for-months-has-been-delayed  Key Findings Include: Members of the public are unable to determine if they are included in the gang database and NYPD does not notify them of their inclusion; Information in the gang database is widely available to all uniformed members of NYPD through a search function; Individuals are added based on “self-admission” on social media if they post using language, symbols, pictures, or colors ostensibly associated with criminal groups; NYPD also adds individuals to the gang database using vague factors such as a person’s “association” with other individuals already included in the database and their “presence at a known criminal group location”; NYPD does not provide sufficient guidance for gang database entry and lacks enforcement in its review processes; NYPD has violated its entry and renewal processes, including renewing inclusion of minors in the database without qualifying police contact; NYPD should notify and create an appeals process for parents or guardians of minors included in the database; NYPD should formalize a process for individuals to discover if they are included in the database. In September, S.T.O.P. joined Grassroots Advocates for Neighborhood Groups & Solutions (G.A.N.G.S) Coalition for a rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall calling on the New York City Council to abolish the NYPD gang database. In 2020, S.T.O.P. joined the G.A.N.G.S. Coalition in demanding the OIG conduct an audit of the gang database, helping to bring today’s release of the report after years of public pressure on the OIG. SEE: Gothamist - Criminal justice activists press City Council to end NYPD gang database https://gothamist.com/news/criminal-justice-activists-press-city-council-to-end-nypd-gang-database Sign-on Letter - Coalition Letter Calls on the NYPD Inspector General to Audit the NYPD “Gang Database” https://www.stopspying.org/sign-on-letters/2021/3/8/coalition-letter-calls-on-the-nypd-inspector-general-to-audit-the-nypd-gang-database The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.   -- END -- CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn   Copyright © 2021 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.