T HE C OUNCIL

ROBERT JACKSON 7th District Manhattan Co-Chair

JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS 45TH District Brooklyn Co-Vice Chair SARA GONZALEZ 38TH District Brooklyn Co-Vice Chair MARGARET CHIN 1ST District - Manhattan Secretary

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FERNANDO CABRERA 14th District Bronx Co-Chair

B LACK , L ATINO AND A SIAN C AUCUS

March 27th, 2013 Speaker Christine Quinn City Hall New York, NY 10007 Dear Speaker Quinn;

It is our duty, as elected officials to keep our constituents safe, and to ensure that their rights and liberties are respected and preserved. The Black, Latino and Asian Caucus believes that the bill RUBEN WILLS sponsored by Council Members Jumaane Williams and Brad Lander ensures that these goals are met. TH 28 District Queens It seeks to provide external and independent review of New York City Police Department operations, Treasurer MARIA DEL CARMEN ARROYO policies, programs and practices by the Department of Investigation.
17th District Bronx Ex-officio Past Chair HELEN DIANE FOSTER 16TH District Bronx Ex-officio Past Chair CHARLES BARRON 42ND District Brooklyn LEROY COMRIE 27TH District Queens INEZ E. DICKENS 9TH District - Manhattan MATHIEU EUGENE 40TH District Brooklyn JULISSA FERRERAS 21TH District - Queens LETITIA JAMES 35TH District Brooklyn ANDY KING 12th District Bronx PETER KOO 20TH District - Queens MELISSA MARK-VIVERITO 8TH District Manhattan ERIK MARTIN-DILAN 37TH District Brooklyn DARLENE MEALY 41ST District - Brooklyn ROSIE MENDEZ 2ND District Manhattan ANNABEL PALMA 18TH District Bronx DIANA REYNA 34TH District Brooklyn DONOVAN RICHARDS 31st District Queens JOEL RIVERA 15TH District Bronx YDANIS RODRIGUEZ 10TH District Manhattan DEBORAH ROSE 49TH District Staten Island ALBERT VANN 36TH District Brooklyn ALEXANDER RIAS Director of BLAC Affairs

The NYPD has brought crime rates down, and New York City remains a model of public safety. It must be recognized, however, that far too many of our constituentsfrom 27 council districts in all five boroughsfeel that undue harm has been caused due to the stop, question and frisk policy. This has bred mistrust and erodes confidence in the NYPDs ability to serve the communitys best interest. The reality is that a city of this size and density deserves a strong police department committed to keeping each of our residents safe. Ongoing external review of the departments work will only strengthen its ability to serve our communities. This step will not only help make New Yorkers feel safe, but also ensure that they are treated with courtesy, professionalism and respect. As it currently stands, the City Charter affords the Commissioner of the Department of Investigation (DOI) the authority to make any study or investigation which in his opinion may be in the best interests of the city, including but not limited to investigations of the affairs, functions, accounts, methods, personnel or efficiency of any agency. The legislation proposed simply directs the DOI to use this authority to study, review and make recommendations about police department practices and procedures. It should be noted that this move is in line with other City agencies, such as the Department of Education and the Fire Department, that have an Inspector General and operate with no confusion caused by oversight. When the City Charter was drafted, there were no concerns that DOIs monitoring function would impede agency operations. The police commissioner will keep the authority to make, change and implement policies and procedures for the department. However, to address the issue of unfairness and remedy growing community distrustpoints supported by the facts and statistics on stop, question and friskthe proposed external review process will foster the sense that our goals can be accomplished together. In Los Angeles, crime fell substantially and confidence in the police increased when an inspector general was appointed to oversee the LAPD. We support this important bill for an Inspector General so that we may achieve similar outcomes in New York City. Sincerely,

Robert Jackson

Fernando Cabrera

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