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.