Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vetoed both components of the Community Safety Act, which would establish an Inspector General for the NYPD and tighten racial profiling laws.
The mayor has long been opposed to the legislation and said he would veto the two bills after they passed at a late-night Council meeting last month. The act is comprised of two bills -- one relating to the Inspector General, which passed overwhelmingly, and one on racial profiling, which passed with exactly enough votes to override a mayoral veto.
Bloomberg has said he'll use his influence to try to change at least one mind within the Council to allow his veto of the racial profiling bill to stand. That bill would allow citizens to sue -- not for monetary value -- if they felt a police tactic disproportionately impacts certain groups.
In his veto message, Bloomberg said the profiling bill, known as Introductory No. 1080, would "imperil the hard-earned gains" the city has made in reducing crime.
It would divert city resources to defending itself in the lawsuits, Bloomberg said. He argued that virtually anyone in the city would be able to sue over any action a police officer might take.
"The specter of the new lawsuits this bill would engender would make police officers hesitate to act on information that would prevent crime or apprehend criminals, and it would therefore endanger the proactive policing that has been crucial to New York City's success in preventing crime," Bloomberg wrote.
The Inspector General bill, meanwhile, goes beyond what other Department of Investigation inspectors general do at other agencies, he said, allowing the person to interfere on everything from day-to-day policing to anti-terrorism tactics.
"The consequences would be chaotic, dangerous, and even deadly for our police officers and for our city," Bloomberg wrote.
Staten Island's City Council delegation was split on the legislation. Councilmen James Oddo and Vincent Ignizio, both Republicans, opposed both bills; Councilwoman Debi Rose, a Democrat and chair of the Council's Civil Rights Committee, voted in favor of them.
Communities United for Police Reform spokeswoman Priscilla Gonzalez said in a statement the group remained disappointed that Bloomberg "refuses to engage in a constructive dialogue about the police tactics at issue.
"People across this nation are engaged in deep discussions about the dangers of racial profiling, but Mayor Bloomberg is instead focused on waging a fight against ending it in New York City," she said. "It's pretty simple: either you believe people should be treated differently simply because of their race, religion, sexual orientation or immigration status, or you find that repulsive and believe it should be outlawed."