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The City Council has taken aim at the NYPD again, proposing a law that would force cops to take blood alcohol tests if they cause an injury or death after using their weapon — even though it’s already part of department procedure.
The bill, introduced this week by Councilman Yusef Salaam — one of the exonerated Central Park Five and the chair of the Committee on Public Safety — drew swift outrage from police unions, who called it pointless.
“We have a police staffing crisis, a violent recidivism crisis and dozens of other pressing public safety problems,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said in a statement.
“But instead of fixing those issues, this bill tries to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.”
Alcohol testing after shooting incidents has been an NYPD policy and practice for many years and is already in the police department patrol guide.
But Salaam argued the proposal to change the city’s administrative code to include the mandate would stop NYPD leadership from skirting the guidelines.
“Codifying this requirement into law, makes it clear that this practice is not discretionary,” he said.
Salaam provided no examples of instances in which NYPD leadership had “altered or removed” the guideline.
Hendry said “there hasn’t been a single incident that would justify this bill.”
“It serves no purpose other than baselessly undermining public perception of police officers,” he added.
But Salaam claimed the bill was not about “questioning the integrity” of the NYPD and added that “accountability is not a sign of distrust.”
His legislation — introduced at a City Council meeting Thursday — would also have Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch come up with a specific time frame for when the BAC test would need to be taken following a shooting resulting in injury or death and with a list of possible exemptions.
It’s unclear how much support the proposal has received.
“The NYPD shares Chair Salaam’s concerns regarding protecting the public and ensuring the integrity of the department–which is why the Department’s Patrol Guide has for years had a procedure on this topic, which requires officers involved in a shooting which caused injury or death inside New York City to be chemically tested for alcohol,” an NYPD spokesperson said in a statement Friday.
“As always, we look forward to meaningful and productive discussions with the City Council on this, and future, legislation.”
It comes after the City Council passed another law adding a burden on cops last year.
The controversial “How Many Stops Act” — which lawmakers pushed through by overriding Mayor Eric Adams’ veto — requires cops to fill out paperwork for even passing encounters with New Yorkers. It went into effect in July.
The mandate, which went into effect in July, has already cost taxpayers more than $1.4 million in overtime in just three months, NYPD brass testified at a City Council oversight hearing this week.
That’s even as the council has in the past criticized the police department for overtime costs.
In March, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams blasted the NYPD amid estimates that overtime would hit $740 million this fiscal year, the highest in the last decade.
— Additional reporting by Amanda Woods
