New York’s city council has voted to override two vetos to public safety bills by Mayor Eric Adams, including the “How Many Stops Act” that was in the news over the weekend after a city police officer pulled over a city councilman but never told him why.
the 51-member council voted 42-9 to override both bills, “How Many Stops” and a bill that bans solitary confinement in jail “unless for the purpose of de-escalation confinement or during emergency lock-ins.” ABC News reported.
The “How Many Stops” bill requires public reports on investigative stops and consent searches and expands reporting on vehicle stops to include justification for traffic stops and the type of offense observed.
Adams, a former police officer, had previously vetoed the bills and urged the council not to override, saying they “will make New Yorkers less safe on the streets, while police officers are forced to fill out additional paperwork rather than focus on helping New Yorkers and strengthening community bonds.”
Council public safety committee chairman Yusef Salaam led the charge to override the veto on How Many Stops, particularly after he was pulled over briefly Friday night in Harlem. The officer quickly let him go when Salaam identified himself, but Salaam used the opportunity to illustrate his point about the bill, as CrimeOnline reported.
NYPD later released the officer’s body camera footage from the stop and said he pulled Salaam over because of his illegally tinted windows and his out of state tags,
At least four council members called for Salaam to step down as chairman of the public safety committee after his comments about the stop.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who is not related to the mayor, spoke in support of the bills on Tuesday.
“Public safety is a collective effort, but it can only be achieved when there is transparency and accountability and policing,” she said. “Black and Latino New Yorkers continue to be disproportionately subjected to unconstitutional stops that go underreported. Civilian complaints of misconduct are at their highest levels in a decade. These stops can no longer happen in the shadows.”
Adams also spoke in favor of the solitary confinement bill, saying it will reduce violence at correctional facilities.
“We cannot allow the human rights and safety crisis on Rikers to continue by maintaining the status quo of failed policies and practices,” she said. “This legislation has broad support and advances a new approach to reduce violence and prioritize safety.”
City Council member Tiffany Caban, a former public defender, said the bills were “not a burden.”
“This is doing the right thing,” she said specifically about the reporting bill. “And if we are going to solve the issues of racist, biased policing outcomes, then we must have the data to do so.”
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[Featured image: FILE-New York Mayor Eric Adams. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)]
