City Comptroller Scott Stringer
By Michael V. Cusenza
City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Scott Stringer recently unveiled a 50-page blueprint for a new approach to public safety.
Stringer’s plan, which builds on his June 2020 analysis of the City Police Department budget, would move responsibilities away from the NYPD, address serious crime and the recent increase in shootings, improve accountability and civilian oversight of the NYPD, and reinvest police dollars into communities.
“To keep all New Yorkers truly safe, we must confront the structural racism that is embedded in our criminal legal system, and we must act decisively and creatively to put a stop to the rise of violence in our city. We must transform the City’s approach to public safety, and this report is a blueprint for that transformation,” Stringer said.
The Bakersfield Police Department announced Thursday it has cleared five officers involved in a fatal shooting April 12 in Pumpkin Center.
BPD said in a news release that a review by the Kern County Sheriff s Office and the BPD s own Critical Incident Review Board determined all shots fired by Bakersfield police were within department policy and within legal requirements. It added the employees have returned to full duty.
The investigation focused on the officer-involved shooting death of 34-year-old Javier Vidal, who the department noted was being sought on suspicion of murder and kidnapping. A BPD sergeant noted KCSO deputies and California Highway Patrol officers may also have fired at Vidal.
The family of a Mojave man who was fatally shot in October by a Kern County Sheriffâs Office deputy has filed a claim for more than $100,000 against Kern County.
The claim, which is required to be filed before a lawsuit, alleges the shooting was the result of unconstitutional policies and customs of Kern County and the Sheriffâs Office, including inadequate training and unjustifiable use of excessive force. The claim also says the deputy involved, Jason Ayala, was negligently hired and retained. His presence on the Sheriff s force constitutes a dangerous, violent employee, prone to use excessive force and unreasonable deadly force on civilians, the claim says.