Metro

Stop-and-frisk law can’t be challenged by cops: attorney

A City Council attorney said Tuesday that cops cannot challenge a stop-and-frisk law — because the five-month-old measure has never been tested in court.

“Not one officer has been sued, not one,” council attorney Andrew Celli argued.

“This court should hear cases that matter and not hear cases in the ether,” Celli told Justice Anil Singh in a Manhattan Supreme Court hearing.

But police union attorney James McGuire, who filed the case last year arguing that the law will make cops wary of cracking down on crime, countered, “It defies common sense that none of the 22,000 police officers who are subject to this are not going to be sued.”

He added, “If you wait for that to happen, what’s the point? We’ll be back here again.”

Judge Singh said he would rule on the case at a later date. Known as Local Law 71, the provision allows victims of unwarranted stop and frisks to sue individual cops for discrimination.

McGuire also argued that the measure should be struck down because it is too vague—saying only that an officer can be held liable if the key factor in deciding to stop someone is based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or housing status.

“How do you decide what’s in the police officers mind as the deciding factor?” McGuire asked.

Celli countered, “Good cops have nothing to fear.”

Democratic Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander, a main backer of the bill, attended the preliminary court hearing along with about 30 supporters.

“I’m confident that the council was on solid ground passing this law,” he told The Post outside court.

The measure does not allow victims to collect money damages against police, but provides for legal fees and other costs.