Author: STEVEN HALL

STORY SLUG: SUFFOLK COUNTY POLICE PROPOSAL

HOST INTRO: Amid the nationwide protests for police reform in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, activists have pushed for major changes in how we manage resources to help people in our communities. With evidence of police brutality all across social media, more and more people are demanding change. Derek Gutierrez is an activist for police reform in Suffolk County, Long Island. Reporter Steven Hall spoke to him about what possible steps the county can take, and what he is doing to push for legislation.

AMBI: Voicemail

Track: He hopes that his proposal will receive some traction. The basic structure of the board will consist of 3 parts.

AMBI: Writing on paper.

TRACK: A representative from the State Government, such as a legislator. 2 representatives from the Police Department, elected by a majority of Officers, and residents, who will be free to attend hearings of the board in order to directly engage in discussion.

ACT: With this police board initiative, wanted to model off the board of education. There’s the heads of education, there’s the people of the district, some of the state, but the majority comes from the citizens. There’s a select few that voluntarily run for election without any compensation, each meeting holds an audience, an audience of those within the jurisdiction of the school district. So I wanted to model that off and replicate it in a police board initiative, in which citizens have more power in their neighborhoods.

TRACK: Suffolk County is expected to see a deficit of $1.5 billion through 2022 due to the pandemic, so funding the board may be complicated.

ACT: I would fight for more funding from the state, but our argument is that NY is going into debt, we lose billions every year, what I do not like is NY state funding billions into the federal government, in which it’s just going to be used for other states that do not fund, because we have one of the better economies, but the from what I see the goal of that isn’t met with reality.

TRACK: Governor Andrew Cuomo recently pushed a similar action with executive order no.203 which pushes “

AMBI: Cuomo at a press conference.

TRACK: Gutierrez thinks his plan is better.

ACT: It’s better because it involves citizens. No one knows the streets better than the people who live on them. Although we elect officials, I believe they are on the same level as us on what goes on in the neighborhood.

TRACK: As of recording Gutierrez is continuing talks with the Office of Public Safety in the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

For Baruch College, I’m Steven Hall in Suffolk County, NY.

Host intro: with the increased coronavirus cases every single day schools across the country have decided to teach from online. Steven Hall spoke to one of these students trying to adapt to this new environment.

AMBI: joining Google Meet sound effect, and Gabriella typing on the computer.

TRACK: I am here with Gabriella Gutierrez she’s an incoming senior from Sachem North High School in Suffolk County, NY.

ACT Gaby: I had to do my work online through Google Classroom and I would get work every day and the teachers would text me the lesson. They weren’t really showing me on video so I had to practice and teach myself.

TRACK: She also had to miss sports during this pandemic and has been doing what she can to get ready for a season if school officials allow it.

ACT Gaby: I love sports and I like doing something else other than school work because I get to focus on something else. That isn’t school and I just really miss doing sports.

TRACK: Her days mainly consist of working and staying at home, she misses her friends.

ACT Gaby: I’ve been working, I’ve been working out. I’ve been going to the stores with my parents just grocery shopping, I go to my job, I work at Crazy Crepe where I’m a team member so I do a little bit of everything. I’m a cashier and I also cook. I don’t want to miss out on my senior stuff. I’ve been facetiming my friends almost every single day, calling them, trying to keep in contact as much as I can.

TRACK: As of recording, Sachem schools haven’t released a plan for the fall semester. For Baruch College, I’m Steven Hall

 

As we have seen with the nationwide protest for police reform, activists have pushed for major changes in how we people can gain more trust of officers, and how can we manage resources to effectively help people in our communities. The unraveling of police brutally has been seen all across social media, and constituents are becoming more conscious about the flaws in the current system.

A few days ago I saw a post from a Suffolk County resident I meet at a political organization, he has made an initiative to improve the Suffolk County police. The initiative includes the creation of a police board that can provide more transparency between our local government, police department, and residents in the community. From my understanding, the structure of the board will closely mirror that of the board of public education. The officials of Suffolk County will hold a monthly or bi-monthly assembly, people will be allowed to express concerns and issues.

I will be reporting on his experience of getting into contact with these public officials.

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So I have a few ideas:

My first one is about a small business taking photos of how they are handling the virus. I would show the new precautions they’ve introduced and how they have tried to keep people safe.

The second one is a candlelight service for Vanessa Guillen, I will show how a crowd of people try and protect themselves while paying their service to Mrs. Guillen.

The last is a Long Island March for Justice, according to the information I’ve seen the leaders of this march are demanding people to wear masks and take safety precautions. So it’d be interesting comparing and contrasting what we see in the mainstream media compared to this smaller scale protest.