NYC Council Overrides Bloomberg's Vetoes Of Bills To Create New NYPD Oversight

The New York City Council yesterday voted to override Mayor Bloomberg's veto of two bills intended to crack down on the abuses of the NYPD.

The predominantly Democratic council voted 39 to 10 yesterday to pass the inspector-general measure and 34 to 15 to nullify a second veto of a bill allowing lawsuits when an officer uses racial profiling as a reason for questioning someone. Votes by at least 34 of the council’s 51 members are required to override a mayoral veto. The inspector-general decision followed a federal court ruling this month that police violated the U.S. Constitution in stop-and-frisk encounters with hundreds of thousands of mostly black and Hispanic young men. To restrain the practice, U.S. District Judge Shira Sheindlin appointed a monitor she said would ensure that police act lawfully.

Bloomberg is furious: "Today’s vote is an example of election-year politics at its very worst and political pandering at its most deadly. We will ask the courts to step in before innocent people are harmed."

The Gay Men's Health Crisis applauded the vote.

"Stigma related to race, sexual orientation and gender identity continues to be a driving force of the HIV epidemic in New York City," said Janet Weinberg, Chief Operating Officer of GMHC. "It is critical that police committed to protecting all New Yorkers stop harming them through profiling based on real or perceived race, sexual orientation, gender identity and HIV status."