As early as today, the City Council will vote on two bad bills that threaten the ability of our police force to do its job. It says something about where New York City is today politically that both bills will not only pass, they will likely do so handily.
The first bill is supported by Speaker Chris Quinn. It creates an inspector general for New York’s Finest. The job of this inspector general will be to micro-manage policies (most notably, stop, question & frisk) and in effect create a rival authority to the actual police commissioner.
The bill comes even after a highly publicized federal trial on stop-and-frisk in which the top witnesses failed to demonstrate that cops are racially profiling.
Which only makes the second bill even more nefarious. This one would allow individuals to sue the city if they suspect a specific stop was racially motivated. In other words, a welcome mat for trial lawyers. The only question is whether this bill will have the veto-proof majority we expect on the legislation for an inspector general.
Whether the handcuffs on police come from a federal court imposing an independent monitor or a City Council imposing an IG — or both — the city is in for big changes in its policing. Something that will make it much harder for the next mayor and police commissioner to be as successful on crime as Bloomberg & Kelly.