New York is home to one of the nation’s largest police departments, the NYPD. Understandably, a city this large needs a big team of police officers to keep it safe. With that said, it’s an unfortunate fact that not every police officer follows their assigned rules.
What caused qualified immunity to end for NYPD officers?
The New York City Council recently passed new reforms that the NYPD must follow. These measures were designed to help end excessive force and police brutality. Overall, this new package includes five separate bills and three total resolutions, all calling for increased transparency from the NYPD.
One of the major developments was that New York City police officers no longer have qualified immunity against civil lawsuits. Qualified immunity is a legal principle protecting government officials from civil lawsuits regarding violations of personal rights.
What are the other changes?
Another major development coming from these new reform measures involves the Civilian Complaint Review Board. Now, the CCRB can investigate NYPD officers with a history of complaints involving racial profiling and bias.
Also, the CCRB now has the final authority on how to discipline officers, and the NYPD’s police commissioner no longer has the right to disregard these disciplinary recommendations. In response to these measures passing, several police unions in New York paid for billboards denouncing these new rulings.
By passing new police reform measures, the New York City Council aims to change the way the NYPD conducts themselves. This council expects the implementation of all previously passed measures to take effect in 2021. The city of New York also plans to launch a tracker to keep track of its progress implementing these measures.
