Politics & Government

Bloomberg Urges Council Members to Vote Against Bill That Curbs Stop-and-Frisk

An attorney for the mayor says the bill would open the city to a flood of lawsuits

In a letter sent to the New York City Council, Michael Best, an attorney for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, urged Council members to vote against a bill that would rein in stop-and-frisk-- a practice that critics say unfairly targets minorities, the New York Post writes.  

The bill, which expands the definition of “biased-based profiling,” would end the successful policing strategy and aid dangerous criminals, said Bloomberg, and open the city to a flood of lawsuits.  

“Courts would be forced to focus on whether data about police enforcement fit whatever demographic quotas the judge deemed appropriate,” the letter states.  

But council members Jumaane Williams and Brad Lander, the bill’s sponsors, say the measure would simply expand the city’s existing racial-profiling law by adding other demographic classes that should be protected, such as the homeless and gay people.  

Council Speaker Christine Quinn said she won’t support the bill but also will not block it from coming to a vote.


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