Suck it, Bloomberg

NYC Council Curbs Stop and Frisk

Passes two measures aimed at curbing police power.

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.”