The NYPD is actually facing five years of court oversight– rather than just three as Mayor de DeBlasio claimed when announcing in January plans to drop the city’s appeal of a judge’s ruling that found the department’s stop-and-frisk practices unconstitutional, court papers filed Tuesday reveal.
Darius Charney, a lead lawyer for the plaintiffs in the case, notified Manhattan federal Judge Analisa Torres that the proposed settlement not only calls for a court-appointed federal monitor watching cops backs for three years — but also “an additional two years of court oversight” that is not specified.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals sided with de Blasio last month by agreeing to move the controversial case back to Torres so a settlement could be fast-tracked. Torres was assigned the case in November after the same panel booted Judge Shira Scheindlin off it while also questioning her impartiality.
The new mayor’s desire to settle the case has been criticized as another step toward gutting the work of his predecessor, Mike Bloomberg, who filed the appeal just before leaving office.
City police unions are still holding out hope that Torres will allow them to intervene and challenge Scheindlin’s ruling.
“There might be an agreement in place, but the unions certainly haven’t agreed to anything,” said Al O’Leary, spokesman for the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.