Testimony Regarding the How Many Stops Act and Other Proposed Legislation

Defending New Yorkers’ right to be free from discriminatory and abusive policing is a core component of the NYCLU’s mission. Protecting this right requires robust systems for ongoing oversight of police practices, including ensuring that the public has access to critically important data on the full scope of police interactions in their communities. It also means ensuring that our city’s independent oversight entities have the tools they need to better investigate and hold officers to account for misconduct.

The How Many Stops Act introduces measures that aim to shed much needed light on encounters with law enforcement that have long gone unreported. These bills are common-sense transparency measures that bring much needed oversight to encounters that have previously been all too easy to sweep under the rug. The NYCLU urges the Council to move swiftly to pass these measures into law.