In the Media

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.

It might have been the wee hours of a Thursday morning, but the atmosphere in New York City Hall on June 27 was electrifying. All the seats were taken in the upper chamber, crowded with those who had come to witness the passage of the Community Safety Act (CSA), which will bring some degree of reform to the New York Police Department.

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.

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.