The ‘How Many Stops Act’ is Ineffective: It’s Time for Repeal
What cost taxpayers in the city $1.4 million over just a three-month period and is highly controversial?
It’s the How Many Stops Act with its staggering 18,000 hours of unnecessary NYPD overtime—just as we predicted.
“Overtime expenses will increase,” we stated back in January, consistently anticipating that this law would “result in skyrocketing police overtime costs and deteriorating morale among the already strained rank-and-file officers.”
This absurd legislation was passed early this year despite the mayor’s veto and officially started on July 1, mandating that officers document even the most fleeting interactions with civilians.
We are still waiting for concrete data on how many real policing hours have been lost, let alone the toll on officer morale (although early retirement rates remain high).
This week, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey revealed the substantial 18,000 hours of OT to the council’s Public Safety Committee.
He also pointed out that 98% of the paperwork pertains to Level 1 encounters (over 562,000), including instances where he asked a tired runner during this year’s Marathon if assistance was needed.
Sources within the department inform The Post that it takes an officer approximately 30 minutes to an hour to complete these reports—even as critics argue that nearly 30% of police interactions go unrecorded while “unconstitutional” stops are purportedly on the rise.
Leading these critics is Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who has criticized the NYPD amid worries that OT costs could reach $750 million this fiscal year.
“I don’t think any other agency would be able to do this,” lamented the hypocritical leader.
In reality, Madame Speaker, no other city agency is as restricted by the City Council as the NYPD—even the Administration for Children’s Services, which has allowed numerous innocent children to suffer under its oversight.
Has Adams consulted her constituents to find out if they’d prefer their local police to return to the precinct an hour earlier daily, completing the unnecessary paperwork without accruing overtime?
Moreover, every council member eager to reduce overtime costs should step forward and propose their district for some “de-policing.”
Plus, if the critics argue that stops are increasing anyway, this law has failed by the very standards set by its supporters.
No one believes it’s effective: Speaker Adams & Co. should initiate a repeal of the How Many Stops Act so that the NYPD can refocus on combating crime.
