PBA launches campaign to challenge pro-crime Council Members who voted for anti-police bills

The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) of the City of New York, which represents approximately 50,000 active and retired NYC police officers, today launched its campaign to convince Council Members who voted in favor of the "bias based" policing and the Inspector General bills to vote against them when they come to the council floor following the anticipated mayoral veto.

PBA president Patrick J. Lynch said:

“City Council Members are elected to give voice to the community that elected them and the PBA believes that Council members Garodnick and Lappin, who supported these bills that will ultimately make their communities more dangerous, have not represented the best interest of their constituents. We are reaching out to their constituents to encourage them to voice their concerns about these bills and to persuade their Council Members to defeat them when the override vote is taken. In the event the Mayoral veto is overridden, we intend to target these pro-crime council members for defeat in the upcoming election, supporting their opponents to the greatest extend possible within the legal framework of our political system. No council member who puts this city at risk will have a free ride in the next election.”

It is the PBA’s belief that the “biased based” policing bill will result in increased crime due to the chilling effect it will have on enforcement activity by police officers who will be constantly second-guessed. Additionally, it will strip officers from patrolling neighborhoods streets so they can give depositions and make court appearances while being forced to justify every action in court as not being “bias-based.” If these bills become law, the union believes the greatest beneficiary will be the criminal class who will be emboldened to commit more crime. Other winners will be the attorneys who the law incentivizes to bring these actions because of provisions that allow them to collect attorney’s and expert witness fees while draining taxpayers' dollars as the city will be required to pay the costs of defending these actions. Unfortunately, the hard-working taxpayers, and the police officers who protect them, will bear the considerable burden of these ill-considered bills.