A newly formed local coalition is asking area police departments to include certain measures in their state-mandated police reform plans.
The Black Leadership Coalition of Utica a group of Black and Latino not-for-profits, faith-based organizations, community groups and individuals formed recently to address racial inequities, according to an announcement Wednesday from the coalition.
An executive order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued last summer required community police forces to submit a plan to reinvent and modernize their departments by April 1, 2021, to be eligible for state funding.
Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri announced his appointments to the city’s police reform advisory committee Aug. 31, and said the committee already met three times prior.
We stand together in expressing serious concern with the Trump administration s vaccine distribution plan. While we are encouraged by recent reports regarding the vaccines efficacy, there is urgent work to be done to ensure vaccination efforts are both expeditious and fair.
Governors need federal funding in order to execute comprehensive distribution plans to guarantee that all communities have access to the vaccine. The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials estimates that a comprehensive vaccine distribution program would cost approximately $8 billion. To date, the Trump Administration has administered a mere $200 million to the states.
Without adequate funding, distribution will not be equitable. COVID-19 has laid bare chronic health disparities in our country that led communities of color to suffer disproportionately from this virus. Communities of color disproportionately suffer from pre-existing conditions, such as asthma, obesity and hyp