Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News (file)
Local governments were directed by Governor Andrew Cuomo last year to study the workings of their law enforcement agencies and to come up with plans for reform in the wake of reports of police misconduct and brutality as well as racial disparity. Those incidents resulted in a summer of protests but incidents of deaths while in custody and allegations of police misconduct continue.
Mayor Richard David thanked the Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative Steering Committee members and members of the public who participated in the process of developing the plan prior to the April 1 deadline. The Collaborative held a half dozen community listening sessions in January and February and the 310 draft plan from the independent Finn Institute that was hired by the City to work on the project, was released last week.
Binghamton mayor delivers 2021 State of the City address
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Drew Lewis, Downtown Binghamton
(WBNG) In his seventh and final State of the City address, Binghamton Mayor Rich David says the city faced many challenges in 2020, proving the resilience of the community.
Between responding to a pandemic, and managing other emergency situations such as weather, city officials have had to adapt quickly. In those early days of the pandemic, we moved quickly to provide relief on water bills, suspended parking fines and fees. We waved the cost of blue bags for garbage collection, said David. We converted the First Ward Senior Center into a meal pick-up and supply headquarters, and hosted rapid testing sites in city parks.