Family members of victims of police-related deaths are calling for more transparency in the process of prosecuting officers.
Lawmakers are pushing legislation that would end the use of grand juries when it comes to police-related deaths.
Grand jury proceedings are not open to the public.
"We can say that this law will not have to call for transparency at the whim of the governor, or a state prosecutor, it will be law that says the state prosecutor, no DA, can utilize the grand jury secret process when it comes to prosecuting police for killing citizens," said Assemblyman Charles Barron.
"We need permanent legislation, permanent, this way there's no question when there's—when anything happens we can go to the rule book. Everyone deserves fair treatment," said Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner.
The move comes after multiple instances of police officers killing unarmed African American males around the country, including Eric Garner's death on Staten Island.
A grand jury chose not to indict the officer responsible for Garner's death, which was ruled a homicide.