Placing a Spotlight on Police Discipline in NYS with a Focus on Racial Injustice

Program Agenda:

• Overview of the various disciplinary procedures for New York State Police Officers.
• Discussion of whether the existing procedures are effective.
• A review of State and local legislative and regulatory changes in response to many of the recent local and national incidents of racial injustice involving police officers and how these changes may impact police discipline in New York State.
• Union and management advocates critique the recent New York State legislative changes.
• Examination of specific cases involving police misconduct claims against black and brown people. We will hear from advocates and arbitrators with extensive experience handling police discipline to discuss how frequently they’ve had these cases, whether the outcomes in such cases were appropriate, whether we should be handling these cases differently than we have in the past and what we can collectively do to improve these cases.
• A presentation by distinguished University of Minnesota labor law professor/arbitrator Stephen F. Befort reviewing empirical studies of just cause disciplinary outcomes of more than 2,000 cases in a variety of industries compared to an analysis of just cause disciplinary outcomes in police discipline cases.
• What are the next steps those of us working in the police arbitration community can take to assure that all incidents of racial injustice involving police are addressed in the fairest manner possible?
• What can we in the police arbitration community do to improve the culture so that claims of racial injustice against police officers get addressed? (e.g., assuring that the penalties for coverups of racial injustice are just as severe as the incidents themselves, etc.).

Speakers

Moderator: Jay M. Siegel, Arbitrator

Moderator: Timothy S. Taylor, Arbitrator

Prof. Stephen Befort, University of Minnesota School of Law

Ronald G. Dunn, Gleason, Dunn, Walsh & O’Shea

Elayne G. Gold, Roemer Wallens Gold & Mineaux

Shani C. Mitchell, City of Rochester

Jeffrey M. Selchick, Arbitrator

Richard J. Washington, The Law Offices of Richard J. Washington