In defense of How Many Stops Act veto, Mayor Eric Adams invites City Council members to ride along with NYPD
NEW YORK -- Mayor Eric Adams is calling on City Council members to take a ride along with the NYPD.
He wants them to see first hand why he vetoed a controversial bill requiring officers to document every stop they make -- even minor ones.
The mayor vetoed a City Council bill called the How Many Stops Act that he says would have required extraneous documentation for every kind of stop, including minor ones considered Level 1 stops.
"Drowning officers in unnecessary paperwork, when they should be out on the street keeping us safe," Adams said. "The bill will leave taxpayers with tens of millions of dollars and NYPD overtime each year. Contrary to what some have claimed, this includes Level 1 interactions with these basic conversations with the public. And it could be intrusive, to guess the ethnicity, the age, to write down why you stopped someone in the first place."
Watch Lisa Rozner's report
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams disagrees.
"Even the language of using apparent gender and race comes from patrol guide. You can't use the word 'paperwork' when there's no paperwork. It's just verifiably a massive exaggeration and it's unbecoming of this mayor," Williams said. "Whatever the administration wants to believe, A Level 1 stop is, right now, without this bill, they're supposed to tag it under body-worn camera at the end of the shift. So the question is are they doing it now? If they're not, they have a lot of explaining to do."
On Sunday, the mayor called on every City Council member to join the NYPD next week for a a ride along to see how the bill would be enacted. Williams said he'd like to attend.
"I think it's a good idea to be on the ground and see what's happening. That won't affect the bill," Williams said.
A representative for the City Council said the mayor's comments are misleading, adding in a statement, "Mayor Adams' administration continues to ignore the fact that Level 1 investigative stops often include instances when officers are asking someone where they are going, or for their identification absent criminal suspicion."
Supporters of the bill say it would prevent the return of biased stop-and-frisk policing.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has said she is prepared to override the mayor's veto, and in statement Sunday, the City Council said, in part, "The differences between level 1, 2, and 3 stops are often not apparent to New Yorkers who are impacted by these daily disruptions, underscoring the importance of transparency that the council's bill would achieve."