Police reforms have NYC officers handing out business cards
Looking to improve how its police department interacts with the public, New York City on Friday started requiring officers to give their business cards to people they stop and to explain, in most instances, why law enforcement activity is taking place.
The measures, born out of concern that controversy over stop-and-frisk practices had eroded trust in the department, also require officers be trained to obtain voluntary, knowing and intelligent consent before conducting searches without a warrant or probable cause.
“Trust is perhaps the most critical component in the relationship between the police and the communities they are charged with protecting,” said city council member Antonio Reynoso (D-Bushwick-Greenpoint-Williamsburg-Ridgewood), who sponsored the legislation behind some of the new requirements.