End Neighborhood Safety Teams! 

The NYPD’s street crime units known as Neighborhood Safety Teams (NSTs) are frequently making illegal stops and nearly exclusively stopping Blacks and Latinos, according to a report released last week by the Court-appointed Monitor. The rate of illegal stops is higher than the department’s as a whole. The report also reveals that the department’s internal review mechanisms are failing to identify illegal stops. NSTs are the latest incarnation of plainclothes NYPD crime units whose abusive and sometimes lethal tactics have stirred widespread opposition for decades. 

“The racial disparities unearthed by this report make it more clear than ever that the so-called neighborhood safety teams are a failed, regressive, abusive, and discriminatory policing tactic that must be discontinued immediately. The NYPD continues to rebrand failed plays from the same abusive playbook and it continues to lead to discrimination and violence, especially in Black, Latinx and other communities of color. In light of this report, the NYPD must immediately dismantle these units and instead invest in real community safety solutions.”
- Statement from Communities United for Police Reform, by Anthonine Pierre, Executive Director, Brooklyn Movement Center 

Read the full press release on our website.

WATCH: Video from panel discussion on military commissions at Guantánamo featuring J. Wells Dixon 

Senior Staff Attorney J. Wells Dixon participated in an expert panel discussion for the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales. BHRC has official observer status for the military commissions at Guantánamo and has expressed serious concern that these proceedings demonstrate fundamental flaws and departure from fair trial norms. You can view the entire recording on Youtube – the initial comments from Wells begin at about 39:00. 

"...the situation changed a little bit in September 2006 when the so-called 'high value detainees' were transferred in from CIA detention...the commissions were used to provide a thin veneer of legal process, but really a process that would do nothing except keep the men in detention, and keep them largely incommunicado, so they couldn't talk about what had happened to them or who was responsible or where it had happened. Right? They couldn't talk about the CIA torture. And that was, and I think continues to be, the sole purpose of the military commissions now... When you realize that everything that happens in a military commision, everything, is designed for one purpose, and that is to prevent information about CIA torture from becoming public. Right? When you understand that is the only purpose, it makes it crystal clear what your job is as a defense lawyer, and that is to get the information out."

Wells represented our client Majid Khan, a survivor of the CIA torture program who was held in Guantánamo for over 16 years and finally released in February. Read about our work on behalf of Majid on our website. You can also read his unclassified personal statement about his torture and his statement on his release.

We’re hiring! The search for our next Communications Director is now open 

We are looking for a leader to oversee communications strategy and implementation in alignment with our priorities. The ideal candidate will help lead us and continue to share important stories, work to shift narratives, and support our political thought leadership. The new Communications Director will join a deeply committed and talented staff working with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. You can view the full job description on our website.