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13th Annual Schwarzschild Memorial Lecture
Scharwzschild Lecture Addresses Police Reform
On Thursday, Oct. 27, the Lower Hudson Valley Chapter, along with the Connie Hogarth Center for Social Action and the Black Student Union, held the 13th Annual Henry Schwarzschild Memorial Lecture on police reform at Manhattanville College’s Reid Castle in Purchase.
This year’s speaker was Robert Gangi, the executive director of the Correctional Association (CA) for more than 29 years who recently founded the Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP) at the Urban Justice Center. A recognized expert on criminal justice and law enforcement issues, he has fought throughout his career for the humane treatment of prisoners and the protection of their rights. Though his work focuses on New York City police, he spoke on the need for universal police reform. He recounted past instances where he witnessed and was sometimes subjected to abuse of power by the police. He also talked about how police target minorities and that most of those incarcerated are people of color.
David C. Leven, former executive director of Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York and former deputy director of the Drug Policy Alliance, introduced Gangi. Since 2002, Leven has been the Executive Director of Compassion & Choices of New York, working to improve care and expand choice at the end of life.
Damon Jones, executive director of Westchester Blacks in Law Enforcement, and Lieutenant Desmond Martin of the Greenburgh Police Department provided their input on policing.
Black Student Union President, Annesha Carter opened the question period of the program with several questions to the panel and then invited the audience to participate.
More than 75 people, including many students, attended the event.
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