Council Member Brooks-Powers on pregnant detainee and child arrest bills

Thank you.

Councilor Brooks-Powers, followed by Gennaro.

Thank you.

I want to begin by acknowledging four of my outstanding interns who are with us today.

They're up in the balcony.

Samira Green, Miles Hibbert, Olana Canoe, and Johan Yul Ivanlisa.

Thank you for all the work you have done on behalf of the 31st Council District.

Next, I'm proud to introduce two bills intending to bring dignity to families in some of their most vulnerable moments.

The first bill, Intro 995, would require the NYPD to train all officers on the laws and policies governing the use of physical restraints on people in custody who are pregnant or postpartum,

including the protections of our state's anti-shackling laws.

In May of this year, a woman gave birth in Brooklyn Criminal Court shortly before midnight while restrained on a low-level charge without adequate medical care, privacy, or dignity.

This law requires the NYPD to report every year on the officers it has trained on the dignity and basic level of care that should be afforded of mothers in those moments.

The second bill, Intro 996, amends a 2019 law to require the NYPD to report publicly each quarter on arrests where a child was present.

The precedent...

The number and ages of the children and whether each child was left in the care of another adult.

When a parent or caregiver is arrested, a child is often there to see it and possibly left without care.

Our city collects no data on how often this happens or who these children are, and with this, we can more accurately direct support to these families and the organizations that serve them.

Thank you, and I urge my colleagues to join me in advancing these.

And again, I'd like to just ask folks, if you see my interns on the way out, just speak to them and pour into them.

I love seeing when we have our young kids here taking part in civic engagement.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember.