The New York City Council pushed through two controversial bills Wednesday that will see a ban on solitary confinement in Big Apple jails and force cops to file reports for every street stop they carry out — even the low-level ones.
The two bills, which were vehemently opposed by Mayor Eric Adams along with police and jail guard unions, passed with a veto-proof majority — meaning the legislation will likely not be quashed by Hizzoner and will become law.
“The New York City Council has taken action today that, if implemented, will unquestionably make our city less safe,” the mayor said in a statement about the passage of the so-called “How Many Stops Act.”
The measure, which passed with a 35-9 vote and three abstentions, will require cops to fill out detailed paperwork for every single person they come across during a probe, including making note of their race, age and gender.
“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,” Adams added.
Despite supporters of the bill insisting that the additional reporting system will hold cops accountable for unlawful stops and help keep a handle on racial profiling, critics argue it will only divert officers away from tackling crime and lead to countless hours of red tape.
“We are already thousands of cops short. Response times to critical incidents have already increased by nearly two minutes – that includes shots fired calls, where every second counts,” Patrick Hendry, head of the Police Benevolent Association union, said.
“Police officers must be able to focus on responding to calls for service, proactively addressing crime and taking illegal guns off the streets. Instead, these bills will take more cops offline to deal with a mountain of new paperwork.”
The NYPD said the additional report logging would likely add “millions of dollars in overtime costs” at a time when the Adams administration is already struggling to plug a gaping $7 billion budget gap.
Currently, cops are only required to issue reports for “Level 3” investigative stops, which is when an officer has “reasonable suspicion” to detain someone, or stops involving arrests.
The bill will require officers to now log reports for both “Level 1” and “Level 2” encounters. A Level 1 stop, for example, could include questioning a possible witness, while a Level 2 encounter might be a potential suspect.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who sponsored the legislation, argued that the new reports would provide a broader picture of who cops are stopping on the street.
But lawmakers admitted Wednesday that cops could potentially just guess the demographic questions during Level 1 or 2 stops — causing a hiccup in data collection.
The collection of the data fulfills a longtime request by the NYPD’s federal monitor, which was implemented in response to the department’s unconstitutional use of stop-and-frisk, after claiming for years that Level 3 stops have been underreported.
Separately, councilmembers also voted Wednesday to nix solitary confinement in city jails with a 39-7 vote.
Under that bill, an inmate will only be separated from the general population if they’ve engaged in a violent incident while in custody.
The measure will allow Department of Correction guards to isolate inmates for four hours at a time in a so-called “de-escalation” unit.
Opponents, including the DOC, ripped the ban in the lead up to the vote, arguing the bill would just jeopardize the safety of guards and inmates. Those in favor, however, insisted solitary confinement amounted to torture.
Benny Boscio, president of the NYC Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, argued that 6,500 officers had already been assaulted by inmates at Rikers Island and other city jails within the past three years.
“We will hold every City Council member and the public advocate responsible for every assault on staff,” Boscio said. “This is not going to keep anybody safe in our jails.”
The passing of the bills came after City Hall furiously worked behind the scenes in a last-ditch effort to kill them by trying to keep them at the committee level earlier Wednesday.
It also faced a failed, 11-hour attempt to amend the bill, which ultimately just dragged out the passage for hours as council members bickered over the NYPD requirement.
Adams has punted when asked if he would veto the bills but, even if he tried, the council’s more than two-thirds majority could override the mayor’s attempt to stop them from becoming law.
And sources said that the administration is unlikely to change any yes votes to know in the cast of a veto.