NYPD Pulled Over a Councilmember Amid Heated Debate About Police Stops

Harlem councilmember Yusef Salaam said he was pulled over on Friday night and wasn’t given a reason for the stop, a claim the NYPD disputes.

Days before the New York City Council was set to vote on a measure requiring more documentation on police stops, the NYPD pulled over a member of the body — and he said he was given no reason for the stop.

Yusef Salaam, the newly elected councilmember representing Harlem’s Ninth District, said in a statement Saturday that he had been stopped by police the previous night while driving with his family. Salaam was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned and later exonerated as a member of the Central Park Five.

“Last night, while driving with my wife and children and listening in to a call with my Council colleagues on speakerphone, I was pulled over by an NYPD officer in my beloved Village of Harlem within the 28th Precinct,” he said. “I introduced myself as Councilman Yusef Salaam, and subsequently asked the officer why I was pulled over. Instead of answering my question, the officer stated, ‘We’re done here,’ and proceeded to walk away.”

However, later that day, the NYPD officially challenged Salaam’s version of events, saying in a statement that the councilmember was stopped because he was driving in a car with a Georgia license plate and windows that were tinted beyond the legal limit. The department also released the body-worn camera footage from the officer who made the stop. In the 41-second clip, the officer can be seen approaching the car, asking for the windows to be rolled down. Salaam then identifies himself as the councilmember for the Ninth District.

Here is body-worn camera video of the interaction: pic.twitter.com/abtir5YNXk

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) January 27, 2024

“Oh, councilmember? Oh, okay. Have a good one,” the officer said.

As the officer starts to walk away, Salaam can be heard asking, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, you’re working, right?” the officer asked.

Salaam’s response is inaudible, but the officer then says, “Take care then, sir,” and heads back to his vehicle. Though the footage shared by the department doesn’t appear to show Salaam explicitly asking why he was stopped, the officer isn’t heard giving a reason for the stop during the exchange.

“This officer should be commended for his polite, professional, and respectful conduct and for using his discretion appropriately so the councilmember could complete his official duties,” the NYPD statement read.

The incident comes at the wake of mounting tensions across city government as the City Council prepares to vote on Tuesday to override Mayor Eric Adams’s veto of the How Many Stops Act, a police-transparency bill. The City Council passed the How Many Stops Act in late December, a piece of legislation that will require police officers to document lower-level stops of civilians. Its supporters say the legislation will increase transparency, while critics like Adams say it will bog down police officers with paperwork and limit their ability to do their jobs.

In a statement announcing the Council’s planned override vote, Speaker Adrienne Adams said, “At a time when Black and Latino New Yorkers continue to be disproportionately subjected to unconstitutional stops that go underreported, and civilian complaints of misconduct are at their highest level in over a decade, the need for basic transparency is clear.”

Following his veto, Mayor Adams arranged for an NYPD ride-along for councilmembers in order for them to see how the bill would “force officers to spend more time filling out paperwork instead of protecting and building relationships with New Yorkers.” Salaam, who is the chairman of the Council’s public-safety committee, said he would no longer be joining the ride-along as planned following the stop. He has previously indicated that he will vote to override the mayor’s veto.

Councilmember Sandy Nurse, who was on the phone with Salaam along with other members when he was stopped, sees what happened to her colleague as proof of why the bill is needed.

“Being on the call last night, getting briefed by lawyers on what to expect during a ride-along stop, listening to Council Member Salaam being pulled over and given no reason for the stop was unreal. You cannot make this up,” Nurse wrote on X. “No more mayoral stunts. We need the How Many Stops Act.”

For others, the body-worn camera footage cast doubt on Salaam’s version of events. Mayor Adams called the stop a “picture-perfect example” of a good interaction between an officer and a civilian. Patrick Hendry, the president of the Police Benevolent Association, said the body-worn camera footage released exposed “the lies” about the incident.

“This Council member and every other elected official who baselessly smeared our police officers owe them an apology,” he said.

Robert Holden, a moderate Democrat on the City Council, said Salaam should resign as public-safety chairman following the incident. “This is damning: an elected official with illegal tints and out-of-state plates, not legally registered, using his official title to evade the law. Worse yet, he lied about the exchange until NYPD set the record straight,” he said on X.

The City Council needs two-thirds of the 51-member body to vote in favor of overriding the mayor’s veto on Tuesday. The How Many Stops Act first passed with a 35-9 vote, a vetoproof majority.