Adams vows to veto bill forcing NYPD to file reports on all encounters with public: ‘It will endanger public safety’
Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday vowed to veto a proposed bill that would force police to file millions of reports on even the most ordinary encounters with New Yorkers — saying it will “endanger public safety” by burying cops in red tape.
The “How Many Stops Act” — which the City Council is poised to pass as early as Wednesday — has faced opposition including from prosecutors, leading business advocates, merchants and religious leaders.
“It will endanger public safety,” Adams claimed of the legislation during an interview on WCBS-TV’s “The Point With Marcia Kramer.”
“There is no way I will sign this bill into law,” the mayor said.
Aimed at addressing complaints of racial profiling, the bill — co-sponsored by New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams — would require officers fill out detailed forms for encounters as mundane as giving a tourist directions or asking people questions while attending to a sick train passenger.
The reports would involve recording information such as the race, age and gender of people officers interact with — which supporters of the bill believe will help keep a handle on racial profiling.
Adams called it dangerous micromanaging of the police department.
“You have a missing child. You go and speak with people. Do you know this child, the child we’re trying to find? Each interaction, you’re going to have to file a report,” he said.
Officers would have to download the forms to fill out the reports, sometimes at the end of their shift, which could trigger the very NYPD overtime costs that councilmembers have complained about, Adams said.
“This is a really frightening way to try to govern a city like New York,” he said.
The mayor said “without a doubt” such a law would hamstring the NYPD because “the more you have police officers handle paperwork, they’re not going after perpetrators.”
He said violent crimes, such as murders, have declined in the Big Apple because police feel empowered to do their jobs.
“This is not how you keep the city safe,” Adams said.
More prosecutors have come out against the bill — with Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark and Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz joining Staten Island District Attorney Mike McMahon in raising objections.
“I support greater transparency from our police department but not at the expense of longer response times to crimes and fewer positive interactions between police and the public,” Clark said in a statement Friday.
Sixty business leaders and merchants also signed onto a letter urging the Council to reject the bill, including the heads of the New York City Partnership, Times Square Alliance, the Five-Borough Chambers of Commerce Alliance, the National Supermarket Association, as well as Hispanic and Chinese merchants.
“We believe that the negative consequences of this bill far outweigh any positive intentions you may have with its passing,” the letter, addressed to Speaker Adrienne Adams and other councilmembers said.
“Victims of crimes should not have to wait due to our officers being overburdened by paperwork which is what will surely happen if this bill passes,” it said. “We urge you to consider the communities, businesses and victims who will suffer the consequences of this bill and to vote no on Intro. 586.”
Similar letters were sent to the Council by religious leaders of all faiths as well as civic leaders across the city.
Speaker Adams is a co-sponsor of the bill and insiders said she is whipping votes to pass it.
She defended the bill when The Post inquired about it last week.
“Improving transparency and accountability with publicly available data into who is being stopped by police is key to advancing public safety and community trust,” a spokesperson for the speaker said.
“With department-issued smartphones, officers can do this simple reporting quickly. In the case of an emergency situation, reporting can be done afterwards and, if necessary, can be done by accessing body camera footage of level 1 and 2 stops.”
