Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison unveils transparency hub as part of sweeping police reform plan
YAPHANK, N.Y. - There's a sweeping police reform plan to address alleged racism in policing on Long Island.
The new Suffolk County police commissioner tells CBS2's Jennifer McLogan that transparency is the way to build trust.
Historic change is coming to the Suffolk Police Department. The first African American police commissioner is taking the reins, installing reform through a transparency hub on SuffolkPD.org. Anyone can log on.
"Transparency. Giving the community access to what's going on internally within this police department can only build trust," Commissioner Rodney Harrison said.
It will reveal traffic and pedestrian stops, including race, ethnicity , location, hate crimes, 911 calls, internal affairs cases.
"There was always the question: Was it a few bad apples, or is there a whole orchard of bad police officers?" said Human Rights Commission Chair Lynda Perdomo-Ayala.
She's married to a member of the NYPD, and as chair of the Human Rights Commission, says the shared data portal will allow civilian oversight: Increased accountability. Police unions are confident that body cameras will stand up to civilian complaints.
"There is a huge issue of mistrust, and in order to get beyond the mistrust you have to put the data out there," said Suffolk County minority leader Jason Richberg.
Past data has shown minorities more likely to be stopped, searched, arrested and prosecuted than whites, even with similar fact patterns.
There's a big push now to hire minority cops, and the department say observers is proudly walking the walk, 2,400 officers strong.
"We do it together. That's how you create sustainable, lasting progress and change," said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.
Police officials and community members tell McLogan what works must be supported, what fails must be improved - with compromise, integrity and fairness for all.
The state ordered local governments to reform and modernize their law enforcement agencies shortly after George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer.