NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – The New York City Council voted to approve a bill on Wednesday, called the “How Many Stops Act,” which would require officers to report all street stops relevant to an investigation, despite Mayor Eric Adams' open opposition.
Adams has previously said that he would veto the measure, claiming that officers would have to report "public service functions," which would take up police time and impact public safety.
“When I was a police officer, I fought for transparency and against abusive policing tactics that targeted communities like the one where I grew up. Intro. 586-A would not advance those goals — it will slow down police response times and divert our officers from responding to emergency incidents," Adams said after the vote Wednesday. "In every City Council district in this city, our officers will be forced to spend more time in their cars and on their phones, and less time walking the streets and engaging with New Yorkers."
"As the city faces significant budget challenges, with an unprecedented $7 billion gap that must be closed next month by law, the City Council’s choice to pass this bill will mean millions of dollars in additional overtime costs that will force us to make further painful cuts," Adams added in his statement on why the bill will make New York City "less safe."
According to the Daily News, the bill passed in a 35-9 vote with three abstentions, which they called a "veto-proof majority."
At the end of his post-vote statement, Adams said “We are reviewing all options.”
Council Member Crystal Hudson said that the bill is more focused than the opposition claims and explained that it would not require officers to report casual interactions.
“This package of bills does not require officers to record the interaction between a tourist asking for directions and the NYPD, as has been suggested. It does not require officers to report when they ask a bodega owner how the neighborhood is. And it does not require officers to report when asking a group of young people how they’re doing,” Hudson confirmed.
The bill divides stops into Level One and Level Two, as NYPD officers are already required to report Level Three interactions by means of a "stop report."
According to the patrol guide, a Level One stop is defined as a stop in which “An officer has a credible reason for talking to somebody for an investigation.”
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said that a Level One stop includes “Being asked for identification, or where they may be going by an officer. This is not when officers have casual conversations or interactions with civilians.”
The bill was introduced by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, alongside a different bill also approved Wednesday that has banned solitary confinement in city jails.
Advocates of the bill include Police for Reform, the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, 100 citywide organizations and 26 relatives of New Yorkers killed in police encounters, the NYC Council said in a post on X.
Supporters argue that the data the law would provide is a necessary tool of public safety, and Williams has said that reporting the stops would take "literally 10-20 seconds."
“We need this so we’re not talking in anecdotes, we’re not talking past each other, we simply have the data we need so we can have an intelligent conversation about how best to move forward,” Williams said at the pre-stated council meeting press conference Wednesday.
Alongside Adams, the Common Sense Caucus of the New York City Council has also openly opposed the act.
“The Public Advocate … is out of touch with what our cops and correction officers face to keep us safe," Council Member Robert Holden, Co-Chair of the Caucus, said. "These bills are a disaster that will diminish public safety on the streets and in our jails."
Williams acknowledged the lingering opposition at the press conference Wednesday.
“Some of the loudest voices in opposition … come from communities that don’t deal with what many of us deal with on a regular basis. As our communities are sandwiched between very real street violence and very real over policing that was supposed to have solved the street violence decades ago, and hasn’t,” Williams said.
Advocates worry that despite the vote passing through the City Council, Adams will make good on his threat to veto.
“I have been so disillusioned by so much of the fear mongering that’s been used for this package … If the mayor cares at all about the well being of colored communities he will sign #HowManyStopsAct as soon as it is passed,” Hudson said at a rally supporting the bill Wednesday, according to a post on X by racial equity nonprofit Make The Road NY that Hudson reposted.