Posted on August 23, 2013
On Thursday, August 22, 2013, just a week after a Federal court found the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices unconstitutional and days before the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, the New York City Council voted to override Mayor Bloomberg’s vetoes to enact the Community Safety Act bills that will strengthen and expand the ban on racial and other discriminatory profiling and establish independent oversight of the NYPD. In votes of 34 -15 for the profiling ban (Intro 1080) and 39 - 10 for the oversight bill (Intro 1079), the Council chose to enact some of the most far-reaching reforms of the NYPD in decades. Community members and advocates packed the council chambers and cheers erupted when Council Member Ruben Wills cast the 34th yes vote to approve the profiling ban.
The Council meeting where the vote took place was preceeded by a rally on City Hall steps, where council members, community organizations, affected individuals, national civil rights leaders, labor leaders and others all spoke out on the need to enact lasting and meaningful reform of the NYPD.
This is an immense victory for civil and human rights. Communities United for Police Reform and its member organizations will work closely to ensure that the implementation of both bills are accountable to communities most affected by discriminatory and abusive policing. For more on the content of the bills, please visit our Community Safety Act page.
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