Seth Wenig/AP
Strike one against racial profiling? On Thursday, New York’s City Council overturned Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto of a measure that would curb the city’s controversial stop-and-frisk policy. The council also passed a second measure—one to establish an independent watchdog over the police department for a seven-year period. Both bills are aimed at restricting the police’s use of the stop-and-frisk tactic, which allows officers in high-crime areas to stop people that they reasonably suspect are engaged in criminal activity. However, in practice, that meant disproportionate stoppings of blacks and Hispanics; a federal judge ruled the policy unconstitutional this month, calling it “indirect racial profiling.” “It’s an historic day,” said council member Jumaane Williams, the lead sponsor of the bill. “We have a lot more work left to do. But I’m very happy that the council did its job, moving in the right direction when others wouldn’t.”