NYPD unions said Wednesday that it won’t be enough for the City Council to amend its sweeping anti-chokehold legislation — that makes it a crime for an officer to apply pressure to someone’s diaphragm
Sources told The Post Tuesday that the Council is looking to alter a section that makes it a criminal offense to apply pressure to someone’s diaphragm — in an attempt to assuage concerns by the NYPD that the ban makes it more dangerous for cops to do their jobs.
But a statement released on behalf of the department’s unions Wednesday argued that “tinkering with the illegal, poorly-written and hastily enacted diaphragm compression law will do nothing.
“The solution? Repeal. Period,” it said. “As long as this law is on the books, New York City police officers risk being arrested themselves each time they lawfully act — and the criminals know it. Other law enforcement agencies have prohibited their personnel from even pursuing wanted individuals within New York City. Shootings are up. Murders are up. The problem isn’t the cops. It’s the politicians. Repeal.”
Politicians including Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams — a retired cop — have questioned whether the NYPD has mounted a slow-down in response to the new law. Arrests are down significantly and police have issued far fewer speeding tickets than last year, even as speed cameras dole them out at the same rate.
One of the unions, the Police Benevolent Association, released its own statement condemning the legislation.
”Nothing short of a full repeal can repair the damage from this insane law,” PBA President Patrick Lynch said. “That won’t happen, because the Mayor and City Council have no intention of actually fixing this problem. They are content to blame cops for the mess they created. If they wanted us to be able to do our job safely and effectively, they would never have passed it in the first place.”
A council source told The Post the amendment may “never see the light of day” after the unions denounced the changes and moderate lawmakers withdrew their support.
“There are very few reasons for members to support this bill if it’s neither making police officers and moderates happy, nor the progressives that pushed for this portion of the bill in the first place,” the source said.