Cuomo announces New York state ban on chokeholds in series of police reforms

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a series of police reforms Friday that include making police use of chokeholds that result in injury or death a crime.

Cuomo in a tweet called this "a historic moment" for New York.

The law signed by Cuomo also prohibits false race-based 911 calls and appoints the state attorney general as an independent prosecutor when an unarmed person is killed by police. The reforms also include a repeal of a measure known as 50-A that shields police disciplinary records from public view.

Rev. Al Sharpton, who appeared at Friday's news conference alongside Cuomo, said the governor "raised the bar" by adding an executive order that requires 500 local governments and police agencies to modernize strategies and programs or risk losing state aid.

"There is no trust between the community and the police," Cuomo said at the news conference. "That has to be restored and repaired."

To the local cities and police departments, Cuomo said, "Address these issues, get to the root of these issues, get a plan, pass that plan by your local government. And if you don't, you're not going to get any additional state funds. Period."

"We're not going to fund police agencies in this state that do not look at what has been happening, come to terms with it and reform themselves," he said.