The City Council has taken aim at the NYPD again, proposing a law that would force cops to take blood alcohol tests if they cause an injury or death after using their weapon — even though it’s already part of department procedure.
The bill, introduced this week by Councilman Yusef Salaam — one of the exonerated Central Park Five and the chair of the Committee on Public Safety — drew swift outrage from police unions, who called it pointless.
“We have a police staffing crisis, a violent recidivism crisis and dozens of other pressing public safety problems,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said in a statement.
“But instead of fixing those issues, this bill tries to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.”
Alcohol testing after shooting incidents has been an NYPD policy and practice for many years and is already in the police department patrol guide.
But Salaam argued the proposal to change the city’s administrative code to include the mandate would stop NYPD leadership from skirting the guidelines.