The nationwide reexamination of policing after the killing of George Floyd has led an Ivy League town in New York to consider an ambitious and contentious plan to remake its force. A proposal would replace the 63-officer Ithaca Police Department with a new Department of Community Solutions and Public Safety. It would comprise both armed officers as well as unarmed responders to handle nonviolent calls like petty thefts. Mayor Svante Myrick argues dramatic change is needed to make law enforcement less militarized and more effective. Police denounce it as a radical idea that could threaten safety in the city that is home to Cornell University.
