NYC Council passes police reform initiatives, ends qualified immunity

Among the biggest changes – NYPD officers will no longer be protected from civil lawsuits, ending qualified immunity.

News 12 Staff

Mar 26, 2021, 9:46 PM

Updated 1,365 days ago

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The New York City Council passed initiatives that they hope will work to restore trust from the community and accountability within the police department.
Among the biggest changes – NYPD officers will no longer be protected from civil lawsuits, ending qualified immunity.
Citizens will be able to sue an individual officer for using excessive force or unreasonable search and seizure.
It also requires the department to issue a quarterly report on all vehicle stops, which includes information on race, precinct and age of the driver.
Other changes:
  • A major crash involving significant injury will now be investigated by a new unit within the city’s Department of Transportation.
  • The Civilian Complaint Review Board has the power to investigate bias-based policing and racial profiling complaints made by the public.
  • Establishes a residency requirement for officers that serve cities with populations over 1 million people. Newly hired NYPD officers would have to live within one of the five boroughs.
  • Final discipline authority to be decided by the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
The mayor says all initiatives will be launched this year with a tracker to monitor their progress being released on May 1.