ITHACA, N.Y. – Officials in an Ivy League town in upstate New York voted to proceed with a hotly debated plan to revamp the police force as part of the nationwide reexamination of law enforcement after the killing of George Floyd.
The Ithaca Common Council unanimously approved a series of reform recommendations Wednesday night that included reconstituting the city police force to add unarmed officers to handle nonviolent calls like petty thefts.
The Finger Lakes city, home to Cornell University, is among hundreds of municipalities across New York directed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year to submit a police reform plan by Thursday or risk a loss of state funding.