New York City Mayor Eric Adams is receiving praise from the self-described “largest municipal police union in the world” after he vetoed a controversial city council bill that would require officers in the Big Apple to document every “investigative encounter” with members of the public.
“We opposed the bill and support the Mayor’s veto,” a spokesperson for the New York City Police Benevolent Association (NYC PBA) told Fox News Digital.
The proposed legislation — Intro. 586-A, better known as the “How Many Stops Act” — could slow NYPD response times, undermine community-oriented policing and add tens of millions of dollars in overtime to the New York City Police Department (NYPD) budget, Adams said at a Friday press conference.
Adams took issue with how the proposed legislation would force NYPD officers to spend more time filling out reports after Level 1 interactions with the public instead of patrolling the street and keeping the public safe.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the proposed legislation could slow NYPD response times, undermine community-oriented policing and add tens of millions of dollars in overtime to the NYPD budget. (Getty Images)
Adams’ resistance to the bill is something that is shared by a few members of the city council, some of whom he said wish they could vote their “conscience” and support his efforts to abandon the measure.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Adams said, “I know when I have communicated with some of the City Council members, some of them have shared, my constituency don’t believe this. My constituency believe that this is a harmful bill. Some of them have said that, you know, if they were able to vote with their conscience, they would not vote for this bill.”
“Some of them have indicated that they’re afraid to vote with their conscience, and I said we should be more fearful of our safety in this city than any other item,” he added.
In announcing the veto last week, Adams was joined by PBA President Patrick Hendry, who said the bill “is not about better policing, it’s about less policing.”
“I wanna thank Mayor Adams for taking a stand and vetoing this bill,” Hendry said. “At the end of the day, this isn’t about politics. It’s about public safety. We want every New Yorker to understand how hard your police officers are working every single day, helping your community, all of us together, making a safer community.”
“It’s about our police officers doing more paperwork and less work,” Hendry added of the measure. “And we hear from the community all the time. We know what they want. They want more of a police presence on the streets. They want faster response times.”
Hendry said the NYPD officers will continue to rely on “leaders who are gonna help us accomplish those goals.”
“I want to thank Mayor Adams for showing that true leadership here today,” Hendry added.
Patrick Hendry, president of the New York City Police Benevolent Association, speaks at a press conference on Jan. 19, 2023. (NYC Mayor’s Office)
The bill originally passed the council in December. It would require the NYPD to log and report basic information on level one, two and three investigative encounters between the police and civilians. Officers would report on the race, age and gender of the person approached, any factors leading to the interaction and its outcomes.
Prior to Adams’ decision, the PBA created a video showing how long it takes officers to fill out the interaction forms amid a string of constant calls to 911 in the city.
Shared on social media, the video used audio from a busy 911 dispatcher in the city and placed it alongside footage of an officer filling out one of the forms that would be required under the proposed legislation. The video showed the dispatcher receiving numerous calls, all while the officer worked to finish filling out the form related to one incident.
In the caption for the video, the PBA wrote, “911 response times to critical crimes in progress have already increased by almost 2 minutes. How much will they increase if cops spend 25 MILLION MINUTES per year buried in new paperwork?”
“As young men, my brother and I were beaten by the police in the basement of a local precinct, but I turned my pain into purpose and joined the police force to effect change from within the system. And, 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. While Intro. 586 has good intentions behind it, the bill is misguided and compromises our public safety,” Adams said in a statement regarding his veto.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement last week, “While Intro. 586 has good intentions behind it, the bill is misguided and compromises our public safety,” (NYC Mayor’s Office)
“Our administration supports efforts to make law enforcement more transparent, more just, and more accountable, but this bill will handcuff our police by drowning officers in unnecessary paperwork that will saddle taxpayers with tens of millions of dollars in additional NYPD overtime each year, while simultaneously taking officers away from policing our streets and engaging with the community,” he said. “That is why I am vetoing this legislation today. I ask my colleagues in government to please work with our administration to improve public safety because New Yorkers want their police out on patrol — taking criminals off our streets and keeping them safe.”
Adams cited serial stabbing suspect 27-year-old Jermain Rigueur, accused of at least five stabbings within about a week, arguing the bill would impede such quick arrests, FOX 5 reported.
In support of the mayor’s decision, NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban said the NYPD is already the country’s “most intently watched, deeply scrutinized, and openly transparent law enforcement agency” and said the proposed measure “is an overreach that would result in the unintended consequence of literally slowing down the city’s progress.”
“Each day and night, NYPD officers carry on the dangerous, critical work of fighting crime on the streets. Terrorist plots have also been thwarted, and there is a renewed commitment among our rank and file to further build trust and strengthen relationships in every community,” Caban said in a statement. “These vital efforts will continue — and must continue, unimpeded by bureaucratic time-wasting tasks — because that is what New Yorkers expect and deserve.”
NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban said the proposed measure “is an overreach that would result in the unintended consequence of literally slowing down the city’s progress.” (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams, a co-sponsor of the measure, reportedly accused Adams and the NYPD of being “fearmongers who mislead the public” while speaking from a press conference of his own about the matter. He and other councilmembers say the bill is meant to address the “longstanding inequities” faced by Black New Yorkers.
“The fact that Mayor Adams is getting his Trump on right now makes this even more difficult than it has to be,” Williams said, according to FOX 5.
Adams also vetoed this week a separate city council bill aimed at banning solitary confinement.
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
