In the Media

Mayor Bloomberg Vetoes NYPD Oversight Bills

07/23/2013
Staten Island Advance

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vetoed both components of the Community Safety Act, which would establish an Inspector General for the NYPD and tighten racial profiling laws.

The mayor has long been opposed to the legislation and said he would veto the two bills after they passed at a late-night Council meeting last month. The act is comprised of two bills -- one relating to the Inspector General, which passed overwhelmingly, and one on racial profiling, which passed with exactly enough votes to override a mayoral veto.

Bloomberg vetoes NYC anti-stop-and-frisk bills

07/23/2013
New York Daily News

Two politically charged New York City bills to rein in the NYPD’s use of controversial stop-and-frisk tactics were vetoed Tuesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
He slammed both bills — one to create an NYPD inspector general and another to allow people to sue over racial profiling by cops — as a boon to criminals and terrorists.

The “dangerous and irresponsible” measures “would make New Yorkers less safe,” he wrote in his veto message.

NYC mayor affirms right to influence City Council

07/01/2013
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — New York's billionaire mayor said Monday he has the right to use some of his personal fortune to garner support from City Council members on police reform bills he plans to veto.

The two bills passed by the City Council last week create an inspector general for the New York Police Department and make it easier for people who believe they have been racially profiled to sue the city. Bloomberg spent weeks first trying to prevent the passage of the bills, and is now trying to veto the legislation.

NYC mayor says police stop minorities ‘too little’ vs. suspect descriptions; critics lash out

06/29/2013
Associated Press

NEW YORK — Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday that police “disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little” as compared to murder suspects’ descriptions, sparking criticism from activists and some politicians in a city that has been immersed in a debate about law enforcement and discrimination.

An End to Stop-and-Frisk?

There’s something wrong when the number of young black men stopped by police in New York City exceeds the number of young black men actually living in the city
06/28/2013
The Nation

In 2011 the number of young black men stopped by police in New York City exceeded the number of young black men actually living in the city. The vast majority of them had committed no crime.
 
Members of communities of color in New York City are also statistically more likely to be searched when stopped by the police, and more likely to be subjected to use of force than their white neighbors. This despite the fact that white people, when stopped, are twice as likely to be carrying a weapon.

Bloomberg Administration Sounds the Alarm Over NYPD Reform Bills

06/24/2013
The New York Observer

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly threatened in their starkest terms to date today that two police reform bills headed for passage will compromise public safety–enabling terrorists, criminals and gang members–but refused to place the blame on the City Council speaker, who is allowing the bills to go to vote.

Poll finds New Yorkers want a watchdog for the NYPD

A Quinnipiac University poll found 68% of voters support the creation of an inspector general for the NYPD, an idea that has gotten backing from Democratic mayoral candidates but has been opposed by Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
05/23/2013
The Daily News

New Yorkers overwhelmingly want an independent inspector general to watch over the NYPD — and surveillance cameras to watch over New Yorkers, a new poll finds.

The poll from Quinnipiac University found 68% of voters support the creation of an inspector general — an idea supported by most Democratic mayoral hopefuls but vigorously opposed by Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who say it would imperil public safety.

The same poll found 82% of voters want to see more surveillance cameras.

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