Tompkins County Human Rights Commission urges policing transparency, oversight and community advocacy

The Tompkins County Human Rights Commission presented a multi-section statement to the county legislature on Aug. 18 that outlines commission-led actions and recommendations for local government and agencies to address racial injustice.

"They have spent tons of time. The statement is filled with passion, education, tons of research," said the commission liaison (speaker identified in the meeting record) introducing the group. The statement, commissioners said, is built around a preamble, a set of multiyear direct actions the commission will undertake and a set of recommendations the commission asks local agencies and the legislature to endorse.

The commission recommended new outreach, research and education committees and urged increased transparency around disciplinary procedures, demographic collection on police interactions, and more resources for legal advocacy for people in vulnerable domestic situations. "We recommended more resources for advocacy and legal support for those in vulnerable domestic situations," a commission presenter said during the presentation.

Commissioners reported a recent two-hour meeting with Sheriff Osborne and Ithaca Police Department representatives and said local law-enforcement leaders described the statement as "very well written and comprehensive." "All of them indicated that they supported our statement," a commission member said of the meeting with law enforcement representatives.

Legislators responded with broad support. Legislator Mike Lane praised the group's renewed activity and outreach to police; Chair Leslyn McBean Clairborne called the statement "comprehensive and so wonderful" and said the legislature looks forward to working with the commission. Several legislators asked for details about implementation and how the commission's recommendations would interface with county efforts to meet the governor's executive order on police reform.

The commission asked the legislature to host an annual progress meeting in which county agencies would report on steps taken toward racial justice and to consider endorsing the commission's recommended actions.