Mayor Adams Loses Showdown Over 2 Criminal Justice Bills

The New York City Council overrode the mayor’s veto of two bills that would expand documentation of police stops and end solitary confinement.
January 30, 2024
Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Dana Rubinstein
New York Times

Police officers will be required to record the race, age and gender of most people they stop and solitary confinement will be banned in New York City jails after the City Council overrode Mayor Eric Adams’s veto of two criminal justice bills on Tuesday.

The 42-to-9 vote was a major defeat for Mr. Adams, and it laid bare a growing rift between the mayor and his Democratic colleagues who lead the Council.

Mr. Adams, a former police captain who ran for office on a public safety message, warned that the bills would make the city and its jails more dangerous. He fought the override until the last moment, but his efforts to persuade moderate council members to support him failed: The police accountability bill received seven more yes votes than when it first passed in December.

The two measures aim to track a broader number of police stops to guard against discriminatory patterns and to make jails more humane after the deaths of several people who were held in solitary confinement.

Topics: How Many Stops Act