With one very notable absence, a handful of City Council members took up Mayor Eric Adams’ offer to ride along with NYPD members patrolling the streets of Harlem on Saturday night, ahead of Tuesday’s scheduled vote to override the mayor’s veto of the How Many Stops Act.
The council members joined a slew of cops riding in a police van on Jan. 27, responding at one point to a reported robbery. Fitted with bulletproof vests, the elected officials watched the chaotic scene unfold while Hizzoner and police brass explained that cops will now have to question locals in order to help locate the suspect.
But that effort, Adams argues, would be extremely difficult and time-consuming if the How Many Stops Act becomes law over his veto. The new law would require cops to document “Level 1” inquiries with the public, such as questioning passersby regarding what they have seen or heard about a reported crime.
“We walked up and down the block; the officers were asking questions and that is so important. We are not just talking about a one time interaction throughout the night,” Mayor Adams said. “When you ask someone, ‘did you see anything?’ You don’t want to pause for a moment, you want to keep moving.”
The night, which began at the 28th Precinct, took the politicians through Harlem and the Bronx as 911 calls steadily streamed in. However, vocal supporters of the How Many Stops Act (and opponents of the mayor’s veto) were missing from the ride-along.
That included City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who announced Friday she would pursue the override vote this Tuesday and has repeatedly criticized the mayor for engaging in what she called a misinformation campaign regarding the How Many Stops Act.
Also absent was Harlem’s City Council member, Yusef Salaam, who pulled out of the ride-along Saturday after being stopped by an NYPD officer the night before — saying that the cop who stopped him did not explain why it happened. The NYPD later said the officer stopped Salaam on suspicion of a traffic violation, though no tickets or formal warnings were issued.
Police brass say the How Many Stops Act could become extremely time consuming if beat cops are forced to document every level one encounter, potentially taking authorities off the street and unable to respond to emergencies.
“They spoke to five, six people walking up and down the block: ‘hey, did you see anything? Did you see anything? Did you see a male attacking a female?’ They spoke to several different people over there. That would be a prime example of a form that they would have to fill out,” NYPD Assistant Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said.
It is clear Mayor Adams is hoping the show-and-tell will create a rift in the city council, preventing his veto from being overturned. However, while most of the council members participating in the ride along amNewYork Metro spoke with declared the ride along to be a positive experience, they declined to say to what degree it could or would change the vote.
“I think that it definitely has an impact. I mean, this is a good thing. I think we should all be doing this — seeing both sides before we make big decisions,” Councilmember Francisco Moya said. “I know that there’s negotiations that are ongoing and we hope to continue to get to a better place by Tuesday.”
Still, some of mayor’s most vocal critics — such as Communities United for Police Reform, an organization that works to prevent police violence — called the affair “an obvious PR stunt” in an open letter to the City Council.
“It is a highly publicized public relations stunt with handpicked officers and yet another tactic in his ongoing and dangerous misinformation campaign he is waging against the How Many Stops Act. We fully support the council members who are choosing to say no to the mayor’s latest attempt to smear common-sense legislation that will improve public safety for all New Yorkers,” part of the letter read.
