Damon K. Jones is a 33-year Westchester County Department of Corrections veteran. Mr. Jones has served 13 years as a Union Delegate for the Westchester County Correction Officers Benevolent Association (COBA). Mr. Jones has participated in the Contract Negotiation, Welfare Fund, and Labor Management Committees.

Mr. Jones is the New York State Representative of Blacks in Law Enforcement of America. From 2006 to 2010, Mr. Jones served as the Northeast Region President of the National Black Police Association. Mr. Jones also served as a national board member and Chair of the National Membership Committee of the National Black Police Association. Mr. Jones is a National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice member.

With Mr. Jones’ leadership, Blacks in Law in Enforcement of America have strongly advocated for Law Enforcement and community relations.  Helping to spearhead the Norwood E. Jackson Scholarship Fund, Save our Schools Mentoring Program, How do you know your child’s in a Gang, Are You a Victim of Domestic Violence, How Do You Survive Police Confrontation seminars series and Peacekeepers Initiative.

Mr. Jones assisted in advising Governor Paterson’s N.Y. State Police-on-Police Shooting Task Force on behalf of the National Black Police Association. The Task Force was created to examine the issues and implications arising from police-on-police shootings and confrontations, notably between on–duty and off-duty officers, and examine the disproportionality in shootings of African American officers while on-duty in plain clothes and off-duty. The report was a groundbreaking study to examine racial bias and perceptions within the law enforcement system.

Briana Ojeda died from an asthma attack while NYPD Officers refused to administer CPR because NYPD Officers didn’t receive yearly CPR training. Mr. Jones assisted the Ojeda family lawyer, Bonita Zelman, in proposing State Legislation called Briana’s Law to mandate that ALL NYPD Officers be trained in CPR. Former NYS Senator Eric Adams and Assemblyman Louis Ortiz sponsored this legislation.

Mr. Jones has given expert testimony on police policies and procedures on how they rate towards communities of color for the United Nations International Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the U.S. Prison System, and Human Rights. On behalf of Blacks in Law Enforcement of America, Mr. Jones’s recommendations were part of the ICERD 2014 Shadow Report.

Mr. Jones served on an advisory panel to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Thurgood Marshall Institute, in examining the coalition of police policies, procedures, police union collective bargaining agreements, and how it relates to transparency and accountability of law enforcement violations of use of force and deadly force. Mr. Jones has also assisted in yearly workshops examining how racial bias, unconscious or conscious, plays a role in policing communities of color.

Mr. Jones served on the Mount Vernon City Council Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) advisory committee to create policy and legislation to establish a citywide CCRB. The CCRB is an independent oversight agency of the Mount Vernon Police Department. An impartial board tasked with investigating, mediating, and prosecuting complaints of misconduct on the part of the Mount Vernon Police Department.

Mr. Jones served on Westchester County Executive, George Latimer, Transition Team, Criminal Justice Sub-Committee. The purpose of the sub-committee was to examine the policies and procedures of Westchester County Public Safety, Probation, Corrections, and Emergency Services and make necessary recommendations that will build mutual trust between the departments and the county it serves.

Mr. Jones represented Blacks in Law Enforcement of America in a co-sponsorship with the United Nations Southern New York Division for the  May 2020 “Universal Periodic Review” (UPR) of its domestic human rights record at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

From June to December 2020, Mr. Jones served on the Westchester County Police Reform and Reimagining Task Force. The task force’s goal was to review the policies and procedures used at the Police Academy to train recruits and those already working in law enforcement to receive in-training and establish necessary changes and reforms.