The union representing NYPD detectives is rescinding its endorsements of two City Council members who voted for a bill intended to increase transparency within the police department — and won’t back any of their colleagues who also supported the legislation, the Daily News has learned.
The two members, Kamillah Hanks of Staten Island and Oswald Feliz of the Bronx, were among 35 Democrats who recently helped pass the so-called “How Many Stops Act,” which would require NYPD cops to document all encounters with civilians that are investigative in nature. Under current regulations, city cops only need to document so-called Level 3 encounters, where there’s reasonable suspicion of a crime in progress. The bill was introduced by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
The New York City Council
Councilmember Kamillah Hanks
While Council members and criminal justice advocates say the bill would prevent biased policing and add needed transparency, NYPD leaders, as well as Mayor Adams, have argued it would place heavy bureaucratic burdens on cops that’d take them away from doing actual police work.
In pulling the endorsements of Hanks and Feliz, the Detectives Endowment Association — which represents some 18,000 current and retired NYPD detectives — echoed the mayor’s argument.
“This political stunt will result in fewer cops on our streets, particularly in neighborhoods where crime is the highest and where detectives and unformed personnel are needed most,” Detectives Endowment Association President Paul DiGiacomo told The News in a statement on the decision to pull the endorsements. “We want every citizen of this city to know that we stand with those in need, not with the politicians. And our members, the greatest detectives in the world, stand with the citizens we serve. We will remember the politicians who betrayed New York’s neediest.”
Feliz did not immediately return a request for comment.
Hanks, who chairs the Council’s Public Safety Committee, called the endorsement pull unfortunate.
“We unfortunately and statistically will have more interactions with police – whether we are the bad actors or not,” said Hanks, who is Black. “This reporting bill is for the hardworking families who live in these communities that have dealt with both the violence and the enforcement … My grandfather, a retired NYPD sergeant, who instilled my deep respect for those who wear the uniform would have agreed with me.”
Hank Sheinkopf, a spokesman for the detectives union, said no Council members who backed the How Many Stops Act will get its support when they’re up for reelection in 2025.
Whether the How Many Stops Act will become law remains unclear.
Adams has confirmed he’s weighing his options, including vetoing the bill. If he does, the Council could override his veto and force the bill into law as long as such a move has support from two thirds of the chamber’s members.
The bill passed the Council with support from 35 members — just above the 34 veto-proof threshold.
