Good morning. My name is Rondell Jordan, and I am a resident of Ward 2 and Community Defender for Open City Advocates, which provides legal representation and mentoring to youth who have been committed to DYRS. I am here to testify regarding the Addressing Crime through Targeted Interventions and Violence Enforcement (“ACTIVE”) Amendment Act of 2023.
I am going to briefly discuss two provisions in the bill that not only fail to achieve a public safety purpose but substantively undermine trust in law enforcement and the safety of my clients: expanded pretrial detention provisions and the warrantless searches of people released on supervised release, probation, and parole.
Pretrial detention ruins lives. Mothers detained pretrial risk losing their housing; fathers detained pretrial risk losing their jobs; and most concerning to me, as it should be for all of us, children detained pretrial risk losing their childhood.
This is not hyperbole. There are dozens of children detained in our city’s youth jails awaiting placement or release plans, to the extent that courts have repeatedly found against DYRS–including in a recent case brought by Georgetown’s Juvenile Justice Clinic. At this moment, I have clients who have been detained, wrongfully, for nearly a year in our city’s youth jails, in part, on charges that were dismissed months ago. (Since some of these cases are actively being litigated I will not discuss them now.)
That spark of joy that each child possesses, I have watched it fade. The ember of curiosity that every kid holds, I have seen it doused. That light of hope that every child has, I have seen it dim.
I have witnessed the premature death of childhood.
Much like the premature death of a child, any child, the premature death of childhood, is a tragedy felt throughout the community. We all lose. Unlike the premature death of a child, the premature death of childhood is often invisible. The consequences, however, are clear and obvious.
We all see them.
And right now, we are all feeling those consequences.
DYRS is understaffed and overwhelmed. And as a result, our secure youth facilities are unsafe for staff and for youth.
Our work at OCA makes sure that young people committed to DYRS have a legal representative who believes in them unconditionally and advocates for the outcomes they want in their lives, standing beside them for the battles to come. But this shouldn’t be necessary.
The provisions in the bill that try to grant police the power to search anyone convicted of a gun offense without warrant or reasonable suspicion are deeply troubling. You have heard a bit about this already, including from the Courts, so I will be brief.
I was born and raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn – which at one time was the epicenter of NYC’s stop and frisk policy. Despite being stopped by NYPD officers hundreds of times as a youth, I cannot recall even once feeling safe.
What I do recall feeling humiliated.
What I do recall feeling harassed.
What I do recall feeling contempt for officers sworn to protect me.
This provision was included in emergency legislation passed by the Council earlier this year. It was included in an effort to address spikes in violent crime within our city, and to make our city feel more safe. Two obvious questions come to mind.
Has it led to a decrease in violent crime?
Does anyone here feel safer?
If we are going to be serious about reducing crime, we gotta keep it a hundred. The emergency legislation passed this summer has barely gone into effect and we don’t have a lot of evidence on it either—we certainly shouldn’t be doubling down on it yet. Locking children up has never worked.
Thank you for your time and attention.