Right To Know Act News

Backers of a pair of hotly contested police reform bills are demanding their sponsors force a vote on the legislation in the next three weeks.

Advocates pushed Councilmen Ritchie Torres and Antonio Reynoso, the chief sponsors of the Right to Know Act, to use a tactic called a motion to discharge to force it to the floor by Nov. 16.

“We cannot wait any longer,” said Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who was killed by a police chokehold on Staten Island. “We need them to discharge these bills, and then we need them passed. And we can’t take no for an answer.”

The people in my community of Flushing, Queens, like New Yorkers in various other neighborhoods across the city, are tired of getting targeted and harassed by the NYPD. Police frequently approach people without identifying themselves or providing any justification. Despite the decline in the number of reported stops by the NYPD, there are many policing interactions initiated by officers that are going unrecorded. In these incidents, officers just do whatever they want without any accountability or transparency.

Sponsors of two bills — one forcing NYPD cops in nonemergencies to identify themselves by name and rank, and the other requiring them to tell those they want to search of their constitutional right to deny a voluntary request — vowed Wednesday to pass both by the new year.

Nearly 1,000 supporters of the legislation, which have languished since 2014 but have veto-proof support in the City Council, picketed outside City Hall Wednesday to demand the city enact the bills.

“We deserve the right to know! Abusive cops have got to go!” the demonstrators chanted.

Council members will force a vote on hotly debated police reform bills if Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito refuses to allow a vote this year, they said Tuesday.