By Honorable Peter F. Vallone is our Person of the Week. The courage to challenge the criminal-hugging council members whose districts are losing so many young blacks and Spanish through violence earned him our respect and honor. The loudest council members against our brave NYPD happen to lead some of the most violent districts, therefore the more they demonized law enforcement the more they embrace violence. They are also ignoring the civil rights of the victims of violence in their districts. No wonder why they always look for secret ways to live outside of their violent-highjacked political districts. Go ahead Mr. Vallone to save the lives of our black and Latino New Yorkers even with name-callings. God is with you!
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
OFFICE OF COUNCIL MEMBER PETER F. VALLONE JR.
For Immediate Release October 15, 2012
Contact: Michael Pantelidis
718-274-4500
917-881-8757
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE HOLDS HEARING ON COMMUNITY SAFETY ACT
On October 10th, the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, chaired by Council Member Peter F. Vallone Jr., held a hearing on the package of four bills known as the Community Safety Act – comprised of Introductions 799, 800, 801 and 881.
Intro. 800 would rewrite the bias-based profiling law, which Vallone co-wrote with the late civil rights activist Council Member Phil Reed. The bill forbids a law enforcement officer from relying on a person’s actual or perceived defining characteristics to ANY degree.
“If this bill passes, the NYPD’s ethnic gang units may as well turn in their badges and go home,” said Council Member Vallone.
Intro. 800, which Vallone has called the Criminal Safety Act, would also give an automatic cause of action to virtually every individual stopped (and groups on their behalf) based solely on disparate impact. This alone, Vallone argues, would give rise to at least 600,000 lawsuits against the City, based solely on the fact that men are stopped more than women.
Vallone argued that the costs to the City just to defend against the lawsuits (before allowing for attorneys’ fees, court costs and expert fees) would be hundreds of millions of dollars. Intro. 800 also allows for “declaratory and injunctive relief,” which Vallone stated will essentially put the NYPD under the control of the court system.
Intro. 881 would establish an Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD, which would oversee the policies and practices of the NYPD and provide recommendations regarding those policies and practices. While the NYPD is already the most overseen police department in the country, Vallone thinks this bill is worthy of consideration, as none of the existing entities focus on systemic problems in the NYPD, such as the possible falsification of statistics – which Vallone alleges has occurred in the past.
At times, the hearing degenerated into what Vallone called “childishness,” as Council Members objected to his attempts to ensure that they stayed within their allotted time limit – so that all would have a chance to be heard. One Council Member even shouted at the Chairman, “I don’t work for you. I am not one of your boys.” Vallone was also the only Council Member to defend the NYPD against his colleagues’ repeated accusations of pervasive racism.
“It is sad how far decorum has fallen in this City – but what’s even sadder is that some of the Council Members would sit in that room surrounded by their supporters and claim that the entire NYPD is racist,” said Vallone. “The NYPD is the most diverse, best-trained police department in the world, and while there are always bad apples that we have to weed out, for elected officials to continue to slander the whole force is an outrage.”
Michael Best, Counselor to Mayor Bloomberg, testified that all four bills were either preempted by state law or a violation of legislative powers under the City Charter.
The hearing then continued on for over five hours, with members of the Communities United For Police Reform (CPR) Coalition, which includes the NYCLU, Legal Aid and the Brennan Center, all testified in favor of all four bills.
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PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE HOLDS HEARING ON COMMUNITY SAFETY ACT
On October 10th, the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, chaired by Council Member Peter F. Vallone Jr., held a hearing on the package of four bills known as the Community Safety Act – comprised of Introductions 799, 800, 801 and 881.
Intro. 800 would rewrite the bias-based profiling law, which Vallone co-wrote with the late civil rights activist Council Member Phil Reed. The bill forbids a law enforcement officer from relying on a person’s actual or perceived defining characteristics to ANY degree.
“If this bill passes, the NYPD’s ethnic gang units may as well turn in their badges and go home,” said Council Member Vallone.
Intro. 800, which Vallone has called the Criminal Safety Act, would also give an automatic cause of action to virtually every individual stopped (and groups on their behalf) based solely on disparate impact. This alone, Vallone argues, would give rise to at least 600,000 lawsuits against the City, based solely on the fact that men are stopped more than women.
Vallone argued that the costs to the City just to defend against the lawsuits (before allowing for attorneys’ fees, court costs and expert fees) would be hundreds of millions of dollars. Intro. 800 also allows for “declaratory and injunctive relief,” which Vallone stated will essentially put the NYPD under the control of the court system.
Intro. 881 would establish an Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD, which would oversee the policies and practices of the NYPD and provide recommendations regarding those policies and practices. While the NYPD is already the most overseen police department in the country, Vallone thinks this bill is worthy of consideration, as none of the existing entities focus on systemic problems in the NYPD, such as the possible falsification of statistics – which Vallone alleges has occurred in the past.
At times, the hearing degenerated into what Vallone called “childishness,” as Council Members objected to his attempts to ensure that they stayed within their allotted time limit – so that all would have a chance to be heard. One Council Member even shouted at the Chairman, “I don’t work for you. I am not one of your boys.” Vallone was also the only Council Member to defend the NYPD against his colleagues’ repeated accusations of pervasive racism.
“It is sad how far decorum has fallen in this City – but what’s even sadder is that some of the Council Members would sit in that room surrounded by their supporters and claim that the entire NYPD is racist,” said Vallone. “The NYPD is the most diverse, best-trained police department in the world, and while there are always bad apples that we have to weed out, for elected officials to continue to slander the whole force is an outrage.”
Michael Best, Counselor to Mayor Bloomberg, testified that all four bills were either preempted by state law or a violation of legislative powers under the City Charter.
The hearing then continued on for over five hours, with members of the Communities United For Police Reform (CPR) Coalition, which includes the NYCLU, Legal Aid and the Brennan Center, all testified in favor of all four bills.