Marie Ndiaye, Supervising Attorney of our Decarceration Project, penned an op-ed in City Limits on the fear-mongering and dog-whistling tactics employed by the NYPD to resist reform. Similar to efforts to rollback bail reform, the NYPD has already resorted to its “tried-and-true formula” of spreading misinformation and warning of complete anarchy to preserve the status quo. However, Ndiaye writes, we must continue to hold our elected officials to the highest standard to make it “politically impossible” for leaders in government to deliver anything less than the lasting and meaningful change that is needed.

“Whether by highlighting an apparent increase in gun violence and predicting death and lawlessness or outright lying like the fabricated story of an attempted poisoning of officers at Shake Shack, the NYPD’s goal is to preserve the status quo—and the department’s bloated budget—by painting themselves the “thin blue line” standing between New York and anarchy.”

Read the full piece here.