In a move that is sure to rankle Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is strongly considering backing legislation aimed at reining in the NYPD’s use of stop and frisk, The Post has learned.
Quinn a leading Democratic candidate for mayor, wants any announcement of a legislative deal to coincide with a federal civil-rights trial on stop and frisk set to begin today, three sources told The Post.
Two sources close to the council negotiations say Quinn is leaning toward a bill sponsored by councilmen Jumaane Williams and Brad Lander (both D-Brooklyn) that would implement an inspector general to oversee the NYPD.
“She’s 90 percent of the way there,” one source said. “There’s pretty good agreement on the IG bill.”
Another source said, “She’s definitely going to do the IG bill.”
Quinn declined comment on the bills, on which she has yet to publicly take a position since they were introduced last year.
One source added that it will be difficult for Quinn to push bills that criticize the NYPD when she has repeatedly expressed interest in keeping Ray Kelly as police commissioner if she is elected.
“How could you support Kelly and do this?” the source asked.
Both sources said Quinn is also working on a bill that would allow those who feel they were racially profiled during a stop to sue the city. If a judge were to find the NYPD racially profiled — which is illegal — the plaintiff would have cause to demand policy changes within the agency.
The trial beginning today in Manhattan federal court will examine whether the department’s use of stop and frisk, which grew under Bloomberg, unfairly targets minorities.
Judge Shira Scheindlin could order reforms in stop and frisk — which has been found to be legal — that could dramatically alter the way the NYPD uses the policing tactic on the streets.
Opponents say Bloomberg and Kelly have misused stop and frisk in a way that allows racial profiling. The administration counters it is an effective tool in the city’s crime fight.