"Is Police Accountability Perhaps the Answer?"

NYU Wagner hosted a spirited debate on police accountability in the United States, featuring Black Lives Matter activist and Campaign Zero co-founder Sam Sinyangwe, and NYPD veteran and John Jay College Professor Eugene O'Donnell.

More than 200 people took in the debate at the Kimmel Center for University Life, as the search for common ground on keeping every community safe and ensuring accountability remains more an aspiration than an actuality among policy makers, police, and activists alike.

Elizabeth Glazer, Director of New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, was the moderator.

“In a time of peace,” she said, “do we actually have a crisis of trust on our hands? Trust is the foundation of civic life. Without it, people don’t call the police, they don’t show up as jurors,  they nullify verdicts – and so we have these different narratives that reflect, actually, merging desires. Each of us wants for ourselves safety, and wants safety for our families. And safety must be co-produced by neighborhoods and by police. So how does that happen, how do we create trust and make public safety that goes with it. Is police accountability perhaps the answer?"

As expected, the debaters went toe to toe, offering differing perspectives and perceptions. To hear their arguments in full, watch the video.