A blindfolded police officer. That's the NYPD created ad currently being displayed around New York City in response to legislation currently being discussed by the city's government. The legislation, if passed, would prevent police from using identifying characteristics like race, age, and gender in carrying out police work.

The controversial bill is intended to protect citizens from stop-and-frisk by police on the basis of matching the description of a criminal suspect. The bill would empower citizens to levee lawsuits against police if they feel they've been racially profiled.

Introduction 800 of the Community Safety Act describes "bias-based profiling". Bias-based profiling in the bill is defined as “a member of the force of the police department or other law enforcement officer that relies on actual or perceived race, [ethnicity, religion or] national origin, color, creed, age, alienage or citizenship status, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or housing status as the determinative factor in initiating law enforcement action against an individual, rather than an individual’s behavior or other information or circumstances that links a person or persons [of a particular race, ethnicity, religion national origin] to suspected unlawful activity.”

The controversial bill has been met with powerful opposition. NYPD have been vocal in their distaste for the legislation, feeling that the constant fear of lawsuits would get in the way of police officers doing their job.

This won’t reform stop-and-frisk; it will end it. Police officers, for good reason, will not put themselves at the mercy of state judges and will refuse to get out of their cars. As a result, criminals will again be emboldened, and crime will spike.  - NYC Public Safety Committee Chair Peter Vallone Jr.

 

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