On Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio made good on his campaign pledge to step forward and try to solve the gridlock between the New York City Police Department and civil rights lawyers and organizations over the controversial stop-and-frisk practices that have raised tensions within the city, the Daily News reports.
The mayor announced that the city was ending its appeal of last summer’s court ruling that the stop-and-frisk policy was unconstitutional, finally allowing for the comprehensive reforms ordered by federal judge Shira A. Scheindlin to be carried out and for the case to be officially settled.
The mayor asked that the appeal be put on hold, and the case returned to a lower court for resolution, after a deal was struck with the plaintiffs. As part of the agreement, one major part of Scheindlin’s rulings was changed: Instead of having a court-appointed monitor indefinitely oversee the NYPD’s use of stop and frisk, the strict supervision would come to an end after three years. It will be up to the lower court to agree to the settlement.
“We believe these steps will make everyone safer,” de Blasio said at a news conference in Brooklyn. “This will be one city where everyone rises together, where everyone’s rights are protected.”
The reforms—ranging from the appointment of the monitor to amendments made in police training—had been put on hold after the administration of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a firm supporter of the stop-and-frisk methods, appealed the ruling.
Read more at the Daily News.