The
13,000-member union representing New York Police Department sergeants is suing
to block a police-oversight bill passed recently by the City Council,
filing legal papers today in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, who vetoed the bill, is also suing the Council over the measure.
The law in
question facilitates lawsuits against the department and officers by
individuals who believe they were subjected to profiling during a
stop-and-frisk. Victorious litigants can demand policy changes but cannot win
monetary rewards under the law, which takes effect Nov. 20, according to the
Council.
Under the law,
police officers cannot target suspects based solely on race, ethnicity, housing
status, sexual orientation or a host of other identifying factors. They can,
however, chase leads that include such descriptions.
The lawsuit
seeks to undo the law altogether before Bloomberg leaves office Dec. 31.
"It will
allow people to sue us for perfectly legal and necessary police work that keeps
the city’s streets safe,” Mullins added.
City Council
Speaker Christine Quinn, who allowed the bill to come to the floor for a vote
but did not support it herself, expressed no concern over the suit, calling it,
through a spokesman, "a key component of the Council's reform of
stop-and-frisk and to ensuring unconstitutional stops end."
The bill passed
in the middle of the night in one of the most dramatic Council meetings in
recent memory. It had 34 votes, which is exactly the number needed to override
a mayoral veto.
The Patrolmen's
Benevolent Association also announced plans to sue the Council over the bill.