Analysis of the Schenectady New Hire Community Panel: A Contemporary Police Reform Initiative

In the Summer of 2020, the former Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, enacted Executive Order 203 in response to the murder of George Floyd and aimed to address the history of discrimination and mistreatment of black and African American citizens and to mitigate the incidents involving the police that have resulted in the death of unarmed civilians. This order required local police departments to conduct a comprehensive review of their procedures and to develop strategies to improve relationships with and address the needs of their communities. In Schenectady, this initiative resulted in the development of the New Hire Community Panel. The panel is the first of its kind and allows community members to interview and vet potential new hires who may become Schenectady police officers. The aim of my thesis is to analyze this project as a police reform initiative, to determine how it fits into larger police reform efforts locally and nationally, and to assess the reception of the project by the wider Schenectady community.