City Council Passes Police Reform Bill Alongside Watered-Down Counterpart

The New York City Council voted today to pass two police reform bills, collectively known as the Right to Know Act. One bill, Intro 541-C, supported by the NYCLU will require police to secure voluntary consent before searching people who they stop. This common-sense reform has been a long time demand of community advocates for police reform. The NYCLU, along with dozens of community groups, opposed the passage of the second bill, Intro 182-D, which removed the majority of protections and added loopholes that fail to protect New Yorkers from police abuses in the most common forms of daily encounters.

The following statement is attributable to Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU:

“By requiring police to get informed consent before searches, the council has taken an important step to foster safety, dignity and respect in police interactions, particularly for New Yorkers of color. Yet the council also passed a watered-down bill requiring the NYPD to present identification during certain types of stops, but which exempts the most common types of police interactions. This loophole was a giveaway to the NYPD and was opposed by the advocates who launched the campaign for reform. The NYCLU and many other advocates will press the new council to deliver serious reforms that make policing safer for all New Yorkers.”