In a victory for Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, the City Council is backing off reform measures that would have required cops to identify themselves to suspects they stop while also informing them of their right to refuse being searched.
Harlem Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito notified her members at a closed-door meeting Thursday that the bills were being tabled.
Instead, she said the NYPD would develop new rules internally. But they won’t carry the force of law.
The long-stalled measures were tabled at the behest of Mayor Bill de Blasio, even though sources said there is more than enough support in the council to pass them. Bratton has long opposed the bills.
The move left many council members fuming.
“Is Bill Bratton running the city, or the mayor?” one angry council member asked.
In a statement Tuesday, de Blasio said he has “taken clear steps to reduce unnecessary arrests and strengthen our officers’ relationship with the community.”
Separately Tuesday, a council committee passed three other bills to tighten oversight of the NYPD. Two would require the department to publish quarterly reports documenting cop encounters with civilians where force is used.
Another bill would require the department to report the number of officers in each precinct who’ve had two or more CCRB complaints over the past three years, have been subjected to Internal Affairs investigations that led to suspensions the past five years, were found to use “excessive force” the past three years,” or were arrested the past 10 years for “police-related behavior.”
Photo credit source.
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