For more than eight years, Spitfire has maintained a relationship with Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) on media relations, spokesperson training and messaging guidance, supporting the effort to defund the New York Police Department (NYPD). Among major inflection points we have run with is when officers brutalized tennis star James Blake; when officers killed a Brooklyn man with bipolar disorder for carrying a showerhead; by supporting Gwenn Carr on the five-year anniversary of the death of her son, Eric Garner; and during the national uprising, when our work helped frame a national and international debate about law enforcement’s role and resulted in a package of major police transparency and accountability bills becoming law in New York state. Our media outreach efforts have earned hundreds of high-impact stories in major media outlets across New York and the world.  

As pro-carceral politicians and police unions are successfully pushing “tough on crime” narratives, states from Washington to Mississippi have rolled back hard-won police reforms that were secured after decades of organizing and the national racial justice uprising of 2020. But in New York City, advocates not only stemmed the tide but successfully secured gains, passing historically important police reform legislation against former NYPD captain Mayor Eric Adams’ opposition. Spitfire partnered with CPR as the lead communications and media relations partner to pass the How Many Stops Act (HMSA), requiring the NYPD to report on every single stop it makes.  

HMSA first passed in December 2023, but Adams vetoed it. The mayor used his full political capital to press members of the New York City Council to walk back their votes. But on Jan. 30, 2024, in a historic 42-to-9 vote, New Yorkers proved to the mayor, the NYPD and their police unions that true public safety is about greater police transparency, oversight and accountability. 

Spitfire built out a strategic plan that outlined our campaign objectives, audience targets, top-line messages, media strategy and opportunities. We meticulously crafted asset-based messaging to use as a foundation for all materials, talking points and interviews. As the campaign progressed through multiple different stages, we constantly refined, revised and updated messaging to reflect the current moment. To build our campaign’s credibility, we added important messengers and uplifted community voices, including family members of those killed by the NYPD, the Brooklyn Borough president and the president of 1199 SEIU. In the face of an unprecedented misinformation campaign that Adams and the NYPD spread, we did what Spitfire has always done: We spoke truth to power, we built trust, and we hit our opposition back with pure facts. 

Spitfire worked with CPR to host seven rallies that brought together community groups, advocates, immigration groups, youth activists, faith leaders, LGBTQIA+ organizations, bill sponsors, elected officials and even City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. These rallies won coverage across multiple outlets including in the POLITICO New York Playbook, City & State, AMNY, News 12, Black Star News and ABC. 

All along the way, Spitfire continued to cultivate valuable relationships with key reporters to keep HMSA top of mind and earn coverage and cultivate support.  

By the time the City Council voted to override the mayor’s veto, 100 organizations across the city, 28 family members of those killed by the NYPD, and the City Council’s Progressive and Black Latino and Asian Caucuses endorsed HMSA. 

HMSA was covered nearly 100 times in every major outlet in New York City, including: 

HMSA is the first legislation of its kind to require the NYPD to report on every stop it makes. HMSA opens up the opportunity for other states to follow suit and continue the progress toward meaningful police reform.