Golden Blasts Quinn’s Plan To Bring Oversight To NYPD
As the upcoming mayoral race heats up, sharp battle lines between Democrats and Republicans are being drawn. The latest hot-button issue centers around City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s plan to create a special new oversight committee that would monitor and review NYPD policies and procedures, according to a report by the New York Post.
The new agency, dubbed the Inspector General’s Office (IGO), would challenge many controversial policing methods, most famously the stop-and-frisk program, which critics believe overwhelmingly target blacks and Hispanics. The IGO would be placed in the city’s Department of Investigation, the department in charge of investigating all city agencies. The IGO would not take the place of the NYPD’s Internal Affairs, which would still handle individual cases of police misconduct.
According to the Post, Quinn has enough Council votes to pass the measure, even in the face of a mayoral veto by Bloomberg.Ex-cop and current State Senator Marty Golden blasted Quinn’s plan as “pathetic, sad” and “a setback for the city and the safety of the children.” GOP mayoral candidate, Joe Lhota, also derided the plan.
“Building another bureaucracy is not the answer,” the Post reported Lhota saying at a mayoral debate.
The issue of stop-and-frisk also divided Democrats when former comptroller Bill Thompson rebuked current comptroller John Liu’s call to end the practice.
“I’m worried also about my son being shot by someone who’s a member of a gang in the street.”
For his part, Liu, echoing comments made by Quinn and Thompson, promised to hire thousands of new officers if elected.