Before 2020: The landscape

For years, New Yorkers raised alarms about protest policing and public trust. Communities—especially Black, Latinx, immigrant, Muslim, LGBTQIA+ communities, students, journalists, and legal observers—reported aggressive tactics at demonstrations and a lack of accountability. The stage was set long before 2020.

2020–2021: What happened

New Yorkers organized citywide protests against police violence. Across days and nights, people experienced tactics like mass arrests, heavy deployments, “kettling,” baton use, pepper spray, and interference with press and legal observers. Curfews and rapid escalations drove many arrests. What communities had been saying for years was suddenly visible at scale.

2021–2022: From harm to hard questions

Multiple lawsuits were filed. City and state officials investigated what happened. Community organizations documented stories, videos, and patterns. The public conversation shifted from “Was there a problem?” to “How do we stop this from happening again?”

2023: The settlement

A court-approved agreement set clearer guardrails for how protests must be policed in New York City. In plain language, it says: facilitate protest first; arrest and force are last resorts. It also affirms the public’s right to observe and record from lawful places—press pass or not.

What changed?

• Tiered response: Start at the lowest level and only escalate if needed.
• No kettling: Encircling crowds to trap and arrest people is out.
• Dispersal orders with real exits: Loud enough to hear, repeated more than once, with routes and time to leave.
• Press & legal observer protections: They can do their jobs without being targeted.
• “Red Light/Green Light” for arrests: Certain charges need higher approval; all arrests need individualized probable cause.
• Documentation & processing standards: If arrests or force happen, there are rules for reporting and for humane, timely processing.
• Oversight: Defined roles and review processes to keep the policy real—not just paper.

2024–Now: Making it real

Policies don’t implement themselves. The settlement was filed in 2023 and approved in February 2024. 2025 is when changes on the ground begin to take shape. Training, supervision, and real-time decisions determine whether the settlement lives in practice. That’s why community education and documentation are essential—knowing the rules, noticing what’s happening, and sharing patterns so gaps can be identified and addressed.

What PTP is doing here

Protest Testimony Project is a community-powered effort rooted in the 2020 protests and the organizing that followed. We’re organizers, educators, and movement partners—independent of NYPD—working with communities across the city. Our focus is making the protest-related parts of the settlement clear, accessible, and grounded in real people’s experiences.

How we show up:

• Teach. We host plain-language workshops on what changed in the city’s approach to protest and what that means for people on the ground.
• Explain. We create short, accessible explainers—no legalese—so people can understand their rights and what to expect in moments of collective action.
• Hold space. We offer a structured way for people to share what they experienced at protests—stories, reflections, photos, and questions—so our community knowledge stays alive and connected.
• Care. “Safety, not respectability” is our north star. We are intentional about minimizing identifying details, keeping personal information private, and ensuring people can choose how and whether their experiences are shared.