The NYPD’s union sued the City Council to ban a new racial profiling law passed in June that they deemed “unconstitutionally vague,” according to the New York Daily News.
The new piece of legislation passed by the City Council also known as Local 71, will allow individuals to sue the NYPD in state court over alleged bias that will be in effect on Nov. 20.
Joo-Hyun Kang, a spokesperson for the Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) released a statement about the lawsuit.
“It would be more productive for NYPD unions to join the City Council and New Yorkers in working towards positive solutions and police-community relationships, rather than continuing to fight a losing battle against ensuring all New Yorkers are afforded equal civil rights,” said Kang.
According to their website, changethenypd.org, the CPR is an unprecedented campaign working to end discriminatory police practices in New York, bringing together a movement of community members, lawyers, researchers, and activists to work for a change.
According to Bloomberg.com, in September the council overrode Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto of two bills—one permitting the racial-profiling suits and the other imposing an inspector general to oversee police practices. In August, a federal judge passed both laws ruling that the New York Police violated the U.S. Constitution in stop-and-frisk encounters with Black and Hispanic men.
The Sergeants Benevolent Association, a union representing 13,000 active and retired NYPD sergeants said in a statement, “Because Local Law 71 purports to render certain law enforcement practices illegal in a manner that is unconstitutionally vague, there is a substantial risk that the city may refuse to defend and indemnify officers based on an overbroad interpretation of the local law.” –Bloomberg.com
The City Council’s press office said they will defend the law in court.