Yes, New York City Council, forcing the NYPD to engage in more paperwork will make them more responsible and solve more crimes.
Doesn’t the city have bigger fish to fry? I guess not because the City Council wants to micromanage everything the NYPD does:
The City Council is preparing to pass a sweeping package of bills that would force the NYPD to file millions of reports on even the most minor encounters with New Yorkers, The Post has learned.The measures also would mandate cops speedily turn over officers’ body-worn camera recordings to state investigators, and that the department disclose more information about traffic stops and internal operations.Members of the Council’s Democratic Majority Conference discussed the list of seven proposals impacting the NYPD on June 28, and the bills could be approved at the next public safety committee meeting, and then by the full body.“New York City’s current policies on access to body worn camera footage have unfortunately fallen short of prioritizing public transparency,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said at a public hearing about the bills earlier this year.
Nothing good ever comes out of more bureaucracy. When you hear officers on shows like Law & Order, The Wire, Rizzoli & Isles, etc, complain about paperwork, I’m starting to think it’s not acting. Those they consult probably complained about all the bureaucracy that gets in the way of doing their job.
Bill Intro. 586-A would force the officers to report on everything, including “low-level ‘police-civilian investigative encounters.'” Not kidding:
One bill pushed by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams — Intro. 586-A — would require officers to file a report on all low-level “police-civilian investigative encounters.” These are instances where the person the police officer is engaging is not considered a suspect or being stopped, questioned and frisked.Currently, the NYPD is only required to issue reports on “Level III” or “reasonable suspicion” stops where an officer has the legal authority to detain someone and prevent them from leaving.The legislation would expand that to require reporting on all levels of police stops and encounters, organized by police precinct.Cops would have to include racial or demographic information, factors leading to the investigative encounter and whether the encounter resulted in any enforcement action or use-of-force incident.
Michael Clarke, the NYPD director of legislative affairs, went off on the city council. He told The New York Post that in 2022, officers had 3.2 million “Level 1” encounters. He even said the number is an “undercount” since “some interactions involving one case would be lumped together.”
Then there’s 585-A, which “would require the department to turn over body-cam footage to the Inspector General for the NYPD within 10 days of receiving a request, unless disclosure is prohibited by law.”
Clarke wants to know why the City Council pushed this bill:
If footage is withheld the department must provide a written explanation to the Department of Investigation, citing specific laws, such as confidentiality, that would violate disclosure.Clarke questioned the necessity of the bill, saying the NYPD has a close working relationship with DOI investigators and turns over footage on request, as long as it complies with the law.“The intent of this bill is to presumably make videos available for public inspection. Allowing members of the public to inspect videos of individuals, possibly having one of the worst moments of their lives, is highly problematic and should be discouraged,” he said.
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