City Council Reform

As Mayor, I will call a voter referendum to limit the City Council’s power to micromanage NYPD operations. Public safety should be managed by capable experts, not by political winds.

— Jim Walden

I am in favor of smart policing. I am in favor of clamping down on discriminatory practices, by NYPD officers or other public servants. But I am against politicians—pandering to special interests—using limited examples of alleged police misconduct to increase bureaucracy on cops, taking them away from the critical mission of policing. Or, worse, telling them how to police. That oversight is for experts, not politicians.

Politicians should generally stay out of the business of policing. The New York City Charter does not give the Council the power to micromanage police operations. Legislators in Albany lack the constitutional authority to override the City’s assessment of its public safety needs, but Albany keeps putting handcuffs on the police, too.

Both legislative bodies have foisted impractical and harmful limits that keep New York City cops from doing their jobs. Most recently, the Legislature is considering a bill to undermine the well-recognized, established and effective technique of car stops. The City Council has proposed banning a database used to combat gang violence. It passed a law that puts unrealistic limits on how police make arrests. It forced NYPD to record all civilian encounters, even when asking for directions. And, to add insult to injury, it stripped police of the defense of qualified immunity. The list goes on and on. In many ways, these legislative efforts are making New Yorkers less safe. These efforts have made good cops want to leave New York for cities where they can actually keep people safe.

As Mayor, I will confront this issue head on. With respect to the City Council, I will call for a voter referendum under Charter §38 to limit the Council’s power over police operations. The revision, to Charter §33, will do four things:

• Extend the time of mayoral review for any proposed legislation related to police operations

• Require the City Council to hold public hearings with policing experts, including those called by the Mayor, to fairly evaluate the legislation and its specific effects on policing

• Give the Mayor the option after this process, to declare the bill deleterious to policing and require a two-thirds majority for passage

• Require a supermajority of three-fourths to override any mayoral veto

With respect to the Legislature in Albany, I will file a legal challenge to any and every bill that—in the judgment of police experts—will have a negative impact on policing without a substantial corresponding benefit. (See Article IX §2 of the New York State Constitution, giving local governments control over “protection, order, conduct, safety, health and well-being of persons or property therein.”)

We need balance. That comes when politicians let police do their jobs, unless reform is demanded by more than a simple majority of legislators. The changes I will seek strike the appropriate balance.

New Yorkers deserve real leadership, not more excuses. We can fix this. We will fix this. And we will do it by putting people ahead of politics.

Jim Walden, Candidate for Mayor