New York City Council vows to override veto of How Many Stops Act
NEW YORK -- As New York City Council members vow to override Mayor Eric Adams' veto of the How Many Stops Act, the mayor called on every lawmaker to ride along with the NYPD this week to see the impact such legislation would have.
"The bill would leave taxpayers with tens of millions of dollars in NYPD overtime each year," Adams said over the weekend.
If enacted, the act would require police to officially document any encounter they have with the public for investigative purposes. They'll also have to log the apparent race, gender and age of the people they encounter.
Dr. Keith Taylor with John Jay College says the bill could created a huge administrative burden. Instead, councilmembers should only require officers who have received complaints to account for their interactions, he said.
"The solution should be finely tuned surgery with a scalpel, not with a hammer, because it's a small percentage of officers that are causing a majority of the complaints," Taylor said.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who co-sponsored the bill, believes the transparency will help put an end to biased policing.
"Even the language of using the apparent gender and race comes directly from the patrol guide. And so the notion that this is overly burdensome, continuing to use the word 'paperwork' when there's no paperwork involved at all, it's just verifiably a massive exaggeration," said Williams.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said she is prepared to override the veto, arguing civilian complaints against officers are at their highest level in more than a decade.
To override the veto, the City Council needs 34 votes. The bill previously passed with 35 votes.