Brooklyn BLM 2020

Analysis of Historical Policing in NYC & Protest Data in Brooklyn In The Wake of the murder of George Floyd

Sean Murarka & Zach Stankovics

The Washington Post reports that 949 people have been killed by police in the past year. This population set is based on police and local media reporting, and has biased information on behalf of the police precincts that reported these incidents.

While looking at historical policing data, while rates of arrests have gone down consistently in the last 10 years, the demographic information on arrest rates have been consistent (only changing one percentage point).

Issues At Hand

After the murder of George Floyd on May 25th, 2020 — many Americans began protesting to spread greater light on issues of systemic inequality perpetrated by Policing gin their country. This soon became not only a national, but global outcry, as people from across the world in many different countries and cities took up the signs and sympoleges of the Black Lives Matters movement.

The Black Lives Matter Movment of 2020 primarily focused on the systemic racism black Americans felt at the hands of Police all the unite states.

This can bee seen in both the rates of which police kill citizens without necessary circumstances for the use of deadly force — as in the cases of Derick Chauvin’s over 9 minute long chokehold of Mr. Floyd, and the case of Louisville P.D.’s no-knock raid of Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend’s apartment which led to her death while sleeping. These cases continue to appear where almost 25% of victims aren’t even carrying a weapon at the time of sustaining a fatal wound by a police officer.

NYC Policing

Protestors in New York City began demonstration on May 28th, three days after Mr. Floyd’s murder. Almost initially they were met with combative tactics used by the police, causing clashes throughout the city. Which involved over 30 arrests on the first night of protesting. Some protestors were charged on account of assault, but videos have surfaced of multiple-police officers beating protestors with clubs before arresting them.

Tactics such as this are not new for New York which has adopted a “Broken Window“ policing policy since the early 1990s by then New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and at the time New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

The Broken Window Theory is a form of proactive policing that lead to measures such as “Stop and Frisk” as well as other extreme measures that were carried out by policing. The theory states that if small crimes are enforced rigorously, then large crimes would be less likely to be committed.

This led to an increase in police budgeting that can be seen through the initial brutal reaction of the NYPD. Measures of proactive policing require larger shifts and being payed overtime and also created revenue to the state through increased parking ticketing violations, court fees, and other monetary punishments. This included the overtime officers were payed during the 2020 protests

These measures were pointed to as successful programs that enriched the community and decreased crime since the 1990s.

The Graph on the right certainly indicates that arrest rates generally had a downtrend between 2010 and 2020. However, proactive policing was rolled back in 2017, which means other factors beyond use of force are in play.

Creating Protest Interventions with minimal Impact

In response to NYC’s increase in City Bike program and the success of the Open Streets Initiative across the country, this proposal aims to target and reclaim a large section of roads around 3 major Brooklyn Landmarks using more permanent forms of street intervention than the NYC Open Streets program, while painting its spirit, and selectively diverting traffic, and creating temporary close and non closed roads.

Barclays Center

Fort Green

Grand Army Plaza

Brooklyn Landmarks

Identifying Monuments within Brooklyn became important part of research when identifying protest routs through the city during the protests and police clashes in June 2020 last year following the death of George Floyd. It became quick clear that BLM movements and other protests in NYC have a dangerous or confined series of routs between monuments, in the area divided by Atlantic Ave. In a attempt to decrease this divide in Brooklyn, and create a safe cohesive walking path between historical and social landmarks, as well as provide greater street access to citizens within the city. Our proposal connect sFort Green, Barclay’s Center, and Fort green in one extended network of closed off roads that have a greater series of connections during the night, and have many locations for organizers to set up temporary shelters, and safety locations on the street. A Large portion of the project is well is aimed at preventing ketteling, and police encirclement tactics on this rout - and afford protestors the ability to escape from situations like the mass arrests and encirclement tactics used by police to attack the June 2020 protestors.

The Project also proposes limited construction and demolition be done in this territory to avoid displacement of jobs and homes within Brooklyn. However, road construction like replacing asphalt roadways with painted streets or cobblestone, and even trees to indicate non-vehicle ownership is expected.

Open Streets NYC + Pedestrian Travel

Open Streets diagram marking typology of a temporary closed street.

By stagnating the proposal based on the creation of tunnel to reroute major streets bellow the project, our goal is to create physical priority and hierarchy that re-establishes pedestrians as part (or complete owners) of city streets within the territory. Additionally, doing so in 3 year phases based around tunnel construction will be less likely to slow down traffic in Brooklyn be a drastic degree.

Much of the Project is invested in the success of NYC’s Open Streets Program which closes down smaller streets for greater residential used, increased biking and walking path, and to give local restaurants an ability to expand outdoor space during the pandemic. This provides both a working methodology for existing street closures and a way to discouraging NYC citizens from relying on car travel as a primary method of transportation. Due to the success, much of th proposal’s renovated streets are recommended to be only temporarily closed during later hours of the day and early morning, as well as during weekends.

Safety Valves + Temporary Shelters

After witnessing and researching the Kettelling incidents and incidents of police brutality, the project in part became a way for community members to either find greater support or be able to flee from police officers who would threaten a protestor’s first amendment rights. This comes in the form of a prioritization and recoloring of certain streets that provide wider access for large crowds to travel through, and intersecting and convent spots to create locations of rest or safety during long or heated protestors for elderly, young, injured, or frightened community members.