Cops Livid Over Proposed ‘Police Reform’ Measures
h/t Christopher Sadowski
NEW YORK — Rank-and-file cops are fuming over several “police reform” measures City Council members plan to review this week, including bills that would force cops to get suspects’ consent for searches, imprison police for using chokeholds, and require cops to give out the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s phone number.
“These pieces of legislation have been proposed by individuals who have neither the expertise nor the experience to establish policy in the dangerous business of fighting crime,” PBA President Patrick Lynch said in a statement Sunday.
“Policing policies must be left to the police management who understand the intricacies and difficulties of complex legal issues and the appropriate use of crime-fighting tactics.”
The nine council bills up for review at Monday’s Council Public Safety Committee meeting include:
Requiring that uniformed cops provide their full name, rank and precinct, as well as the CCRB number, during any traffic stop or property search.
A measure that would allow police to use “injurious physical force” only “as is proportionally necessary,” but that does not define how proportionality will be determined.
Making the NYPD report the precincts of the 200 cops with the most CCRB complaints filed against them.
Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Queens), who sponsored three of the nine bills, said he welcomes Lynch’s input, but declined to say whether he sought it when drafting the proposals.
The public hearing comes a week after Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito agreed to hire almost 1,300 new uniformed police officers by June 2016.
Written by Michael Gartland for the New York Post
