New York City police officers will now be required to record the race, gender and ages of the majority of people they stop for questioning under a law passed by the City Council.
Last month, New York City Council Member Yusef Salaam, a member of the exonerated group of men known as the Central Park Five, was stopped and pulled over by police in Harlem without being provided with a legitimate reason.
The How Many Stops Act, which New York City Mayor Eric Adams vetoed, is an endeavor to improve the Police Department’s data-collection actions and to prevent potentially detrimental encounters with young people of color and other abuses. According to the Associated Press, the new law requires officers to document basic information in low-level encounters where the police request information from individuals who aren’t necessarily suspected of a crime.
The council achieved two-thirds of the support needed to override Adams’ veto, with 42 in favor and nine against.
“At a time when Black and Latino New Yorkers continue to be disproportionately subjected to unconstitutional stops that go underreported, and civilian complaints of misconduct are at their highest level in over a decade, the need for basic transparency is clear,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said in a statement.
Officers will also have to report the events that led to stopping an individual and then the data will be made public on the police department’s website.
Mayor Adams insists the new bill will only diminish the public’s safety.
“These bills will make New Yorkers less safe on the streets, while police officers are forced to fill out additional paperwork rather than focus on helping New Yorkers and strengthening community bonds,” he said in a statement after the vote.
