The City Council convened in the middle of the night three weeks ago to vote on a crowded agenda of issues, including the adoption of two bills under the Community Safety Act. While the bills passed easily, Mayor Bloomberg has vowed to veto them, saying they will undermine the police department’s ability to keep the city safe.

The first measure, known as “The NYPD Inspector General” bill, passed by a vote of 40 to 11, and would allow the commissioner of the Department of Investigation to appoint an Inspector General to oversee the NYPD’s activities and policies.

The second bill, known as, the “Bias-Based Profiling Bill,” which passed 34 to 17, would expand current anti-discrimination policy over the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk procedure to protect everyone regardless of age, gender, immigration status, sexual orientation, disability, and housing status and would permit individuals to sue the NYPD in state court.

According to a press spokesperson from the speaker’s office, the meeting’s delay (it was originally scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. but didn’t get under way until nearly 11:30 p.m.) was due to the council members’ busy schedules and the wide array of issues on the agenda.

Although no Bronx Council members voted against both bills, support for the anti-profiling legislation was split. Council members engaged in a heated debate on the floor that lasted until nearly 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning. Bronx Council Members James Vacca of District 13 and Majority Leader Joel Rivera of District 15, both voted in favor of the Inspector General bill, but against the anti-racial profiling policy.

“The [Inspector General] bill will address people’s real problems,” said Rivera. “It will be able to actually help people. The profiling bill does not because it doesn’t create the ability for people to really get justice.”

Amongst the profiling bill’s strongest supporters were other Bronx representatives, Helen D. Foster, Oliver Koppell, Fernando Cabrera, Maria del Carmen Arroyo, and Annabel Palma, head of the Bronx Delegation.

“We should not have someone terrified because of their race, ethnicity, or anything else,” said Koppell, who represents the northwest Bronx.

“As the mother of a young Latino and resident of the South Bronx, nothing is more important to me than keeping our communities safe,” Palma said. “But with Blacks and Latinos making up nearly 90 percent of those stopped and frisked, it’s clear that the NYPD needs to rethink its approach. These bills will bring accountability to the Police Department without jeopardizing the enormous reductions in crime over the last two decades.”

According to anti-profiling advocates from the Black, Latino, Muslim, LGBT, homeless, disabled, and immigrant communities, the current stop-and-frisk policy is unsuccessful in fighting crime, and instead targets minority groups who are not necessarily exhibiting suspicious behavior. In 2011, the Police Department made over 684,000 stops. Almost 90 percent of those stopped were not arrested or summoned. The ACLU reported that guns are found in less than 0.2 percent of stops.

Despite these statistics, the bill faced strong opposition from Mayor Bloomberg and Republican Council members, who said the bill would interfere with police work and make the city less safe.

“I am deeply disturbed by what I have been hearing tonight,” said Republican Council Member Eric Ulrich. “Why don’t we take that money and hire more cops? They have made New York the safest city in America!”

Staten Island Council Member James S. Oddo agreed, but with more civility. “I like and respect Council Member [Jumaane] Williams [who sponsored the bills], and I acknowledge the difficulties between certain communities and the NYPD,” he said, addressing Williams. “We have to be vigilant in trying to repair these relationships, but these two bills don’t do that. Officers will avoid following instincts and it will lead to terrible things,” Oddo said.

Council Member Peter F. Vallone, Jr. of Queens said the profiling bill will give everyone the right to sue and will cost millions. It will take cops off the streets.” He added, “Crime will soar, murder will rise, children will die.”

Bloomberg has vowed to veto both measures and will spend time lobbying representatives before attempting to veto either bill.

CAP: Advocates of the Community Safety Act hold a rally on the steps of City Hall before a vote on two controversial bills that would place more oversight and accountability on the NYPD.
Photo by Andrea Cetra