Our History

In 2008, Patchogue resident Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant, was killed in a hate crime by a group of youths who targeted him simply because he was Latino.  Many other local immigrants stepped forward to report that they had also been the victims of hate crimes, but had been unable to get help from the local police.  These incidents revealed widespread and longstanding racial and ethnic disparities in Suffolk County policing practices and thrust them into the national spotlight.  Investigations by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Latino Justice and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division revealed deep-seated institutional biases and inequities in the Suffolk County Police Department, as well as unconstitutional policing practices.  

In 2011, the DOJ issued a technical assistance letter to the SCPD delineating the steps they needed to take in order to address internal bias and improve relations with the Latino community. In 2014, the DOJ and Suffolk County entered into a Settlement Agreement (Agreement) requiring the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) to commit to providing unbiased policing, to implement policy reforms, such as improved language access and tracking of hate crimes, and to submit to DOJ oversight. In announcing the Agreement, DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division said: “our goal is for all Suffolk residents - - existing and future - - to know that SCPD is there to serve and protect them and that they stand equal with their neighbors before the law.”

In response to a history of hate incidents directed toward the Latino community as well as increased law enforcement activity targeting local youth of color, a cross section of local social justice advocates mobilized after the 2008 murder of Marcelo Lucero to improve local policing practices and to organize against local law enforcement cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Our involvement in the community revealed many injustices which were being experienced by Black and Brown youth in our community and their families. Many of these fears were heightened with the election of Donald Trump and the increase in local ICE enforcement. In response, advocates held a retreat in 2017 to coordinate a strategy to respond to these unconscionable attacks on our local community. Discussion evolved around racial profiling, particularly of Latino immigrants in our schools and larger community, the role of School Resource Officers (SRO's), and the need for continued and increased monitoring of the 2014 SCPD-DOJ agreement. Out of this retreat, United for Justice in Policing was born.

Since that time, we have been engaged in numerous activities (click here for a detailed list).

The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May 2020 had a profound impact on reform efforts nationwide.  Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 203 in June 2020 calling on every municipality with a police department to reimagine and reform policing within its jurisdiction in collaboration with stakeholders.  UJPLI joined Long Island Advocates for Police Accountability (LIAFPA) and Long Island United to Transform Policing & Community Safety (LIU) in a unified effort to fulfill the mandate of EO 203.  Doing so required expanding our area of research and review beyond the scope of the DOJ – Suffolk County Settlement Agreement.  Countless hours of research, collaboration and consultation with various subject-matter experts culminated in The People’s Plan.  

UJPLI remains committed to social justice in general and to race-neutral equitable policing and criminal justice in particular.  We are mindful that neither will be possible without sustained vigorous advocacy and political accountability.