NEW YORK (1010 WINS/ WCBS 880 NEWS) – Mayor Eric Adams announced on Friday his veto of a bill that aimed to enhance NYPD transparency, a move that has drawn criticism from a diverse/broad range of groups including faith leaders, community advocates, and law enforcement professionals.
The bill, known as the “How Many Stops Act,” aimed to increase reporting requirements for NYPD officers during lower-level interactions with the public, including adding the locations of the stops, demographic data of the individuals stopped, reasons for the encounters, and any instances of use-of-force or enforcement actions resulting from these interactions.
Police are currently only required to fill out reports following “reasonable suspicion” stops, where an officer has the legal authority to search and detain someone.
Although the City Council passed the bill with enough votes to override a veto, Adams' veto might require some councilmembers to change their stance for it to be upheld.
In a statement Friday, Speaker Adrienne Adams confirmed that the council is prepared to override Adams, arguing that more transparency is needed in policing because civilian complaints against officers are at their highest level in more than a decade.
“The false narrative that we cannot have transparency is bad for our city, and belies the fact that accountability is vital to improving public safety by increasing trust,” she said in the joint statement with Councilmember Yusef Salaam, a Harlem Democrat and exonerated “Central Park Five” member.
Adams argued that this would lead to increased paperwork, diverting officers from patrolling streets and engaging in community policing.
“In my time as a police officer and throughout my career in public service, I have fought for transparency and against abusive policing tactics that targeted communities of color,” Adams said. “While Intro. 586 has good intentions behind it, the bill is misguided and compromises our public safety.”
Adams also highlighted that the bill's requirements could lead to a rise in NYPD overtime costs.
The Legal Aid Society condemned Adams veto. “Police stops are at their highest level in nearly a decade, with the overwhelming majority of reported stops impacting Black and Latinx New Yorkers,” said Jennvine Wong, Staff Attorney with the Cop Accountability Project at The Legal Aid Society. “Current laws allowing NYPD officers to interrogate and search any New Yorker without reporting the encounter have allowed these inequalities to flourish, and City Hall must take action to protect their vulnerable constituents and hold the NYPD to a higher standard of accountability.”
Similarly, VOCAL-NY criticized Adams for his decision. Jawanza Williams, Organizing Director for VOCAL-NY, accused Adams of siding with the NYPD over the people.
"Mayor Adams should be ashamed for blocking a common sense bill and continuing his campaign to erode transparency at city agencies like the NYPD,” Williams said. “He continues to rely on misrepresentations and lies in his attempts to discredit the How Many Stops Act because his loyalties lie with the NYPD — not the people he was elected to serve. Actions speak louder than words, and vetoing this legislation is a direct blow to low-income, Black, and brown New Yorkers who live with daily racial profiling and police harassment in this city."
Patrick Hendry, president of the NYCPA-PBA, criticized the bill, stating, "This bill is not about better policing, it's about less policing. It's about police officers doing more paperwork and less work." He emphasized that the community wants faster response times from the police.
New York City saw a drop in crime in 2023, including “five of the seven major crime categories, a 12 percent decline in homicides, and a 25 percent decrease in shooting incidents,” according to a city report.
“Crime is down. Jobs are up. The city is moving the right direction,” Adams said. “Allow us to continue the job we started.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.