CONTACT: Mariah McGough, mariah@vocal-ny.org

FOLLOWING DAMNING FEDERAL MONITOR REPORT, NYPD COMMISSIONER KEECHANT SEWELL RESIGNS

Report Showed Stop and Frisk is on the Rise in NYC; City Council Must Pass “How Many Stops Act” to Increase Police Transparency

NEW YORK — In response to NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell’s resignation, which came just days after she disputed a damning federal monitor report on illegal stops by the NYPD, VOCAL-NY released this statement attributable to Susan Hadley, a leader with VOCAL-NY’s Civil Rights Union:

“The federal monitor’s report confirms what we’ve always known: stop and frisk has not ended. These stops continue to disproportionately impact Black, Brown, and low-income people. Stop and frisk is rooted in racism and classism, and although data show the NYPD’s use of the practice has decreased over the past decade, any use remains a violation of our constitutional rights and a threat to our lives. And we know the data is dangerously incomplete. 

Commissioner Sewell’s defense of NYPD’s practices is unacceptable and her departure is a clear sign that the federal monitor’s report needs to be taken seriously. That is why it is vital that the City Council pass the How Many Stops Act so that we can have a complete picture of how police are showing up in our communities.”

BACKGROUND:

The How Many Stops Act will bring critical and urgent transparency to the NYPD’s daily activities in New York City communities. It consists of two common sense, good government bills that will require a comprehensive accounting of all NYPD street stops, investigative encounters, and consent searches – including for the purposes of DNA collection – and ensure that the hard-won Right to Know Act is protected.

Intro. 586: Reporting on All NYPD Stops and Investigative Encounters, sponsored by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Councilmember Alexa Aviles, will require the NYPD to report on all levels of police street stops and investigative encounters, including where they happen, demographic information on the person stopped, the reason for the encounter, and whether the encounter leads to any use of force or enforcement action.

Intro 538: Reporting on all police consent searches, sponsored by Councilmember Crystal Hudson, will provide New Yorkers will a full picture of the NYPD’s use of consent searches in our communities and shed light on whether or not the NYPD is adhering to Right to Know Act.

Police transparency is an essential measure for holding NYPD accountable for discriminatory and abusive policing practices that criminalize and harm New Yorkers, in particular Black, Latinx, and other New Yorkers of color, and make all New Yorkers less safe. The City Council must pass the How Many Stops Act! Ensuring greater NYPD transparency and accountability is fundamental to building a safer city for all New Yorkers. 

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