The NYC Council approved two controversial NYPD bills despite being opposed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams. One of the bills aims to ban solitary jail confinements.
Meanwhile, the other legislation will require New York Police Department cops to report all the street stops they do. The two new bills can benefit the city based on their functions. If this is the case, why does Eric Adams disapprove of them? Here are other major details you need to know about the controversial NYPD regulations.
NYC Council Approves NYPD Bills Opposed by Mayor Eric Adams
NYPD Strategic Response Group watch as supporters of Jordan Neely protest a rally in support of Daniel Penny at Collect Pond Park on May 24, 2023 in New York City. Nassau County Executive Bruce A Blakeman was joined by military veterans.
On Wednesday, Dec. 20, the "How Many Stops Act" was pushed through by the NYC Council. It passed with a 35-9 vote and three abstentions, as The New York Post reported.
Many people supported the bill since it aims to hold cops and other law enforcement authorities accountable for unlawful searches and stops, which advocates say unfairly affect Black and brown people.
"I've seen the damage it can do. The lack of trust between the community and the NYPD," said Christine Rivera of the Bronx Defenders, a public defender office in the South Bronx, via ABC 7.
The new How Many Stops Act was approved after a federal monitor report in June highlighted greater transparency. This report oversees the stop-and-frisk tactics done by the New York Police Department.
Based on the federal monitor report, around 24% of level 3 encounters carried out by NYPD police officers between April and October 2022 were unconstitutional.
It claimed that almost 97% of the residents pulled aside by cops during the said period were Hispanic or Black people. Aside from this, the NYC Council also passed another legislation.
This bill focuses on banning most forms of solitary confinement within the jails in New York City. Council members explained that this regulation would require city jails to give prisoners at least 14 hours of out-of-cell time in shared spaces.
But, the bill doesn't cover people who did the most violent crimes. This means that the NYPD can still isolate these criminals.
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Why Eric Adams Opposes NYPD Bills
A police officer sits in her car in Harlem where two New York City police officers were shot last night after responding to a domestic call on January 22, 2022 in New York City. One of the officers, Jason Rivera, was killed while a second officer is in critical condition.
Before the NYC Council approved the two bills, Mayor Eric Adams explained why he was against these controversial legislations. And the NYC leader has a point.
"It's going to add in overtime, it's going to really take away from the focus. We need to have our police officers on the street doing policing not paperwork," said the mayor.
Patrick Hendry, the Police Benevolent Association union head, is also against the two bills, especially the How Many Stops Act. He explained that NYC is already facing cop shortages.
Hendry added that shots fired, calls, and other response times to critical incidents drastically increased by up to two minutes.
Because of this, he also argues that police officers need more time to focus on responding to calls for service, taking illegal guns off the streets, and proactively addressing crime.
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