Mayor Says Jeffries Cop Residency Bill is ‘Unnecessary’

Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries to mandate that all new New York City police officer hires live within the five boroughs. The bill was of officers leaving hateful and racist messages on a Facebook group entitled "No More West Indian Day Detail.”

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg called the bill “unnecessary,” and said about 60 percent of the NYPD’s current academy class lives in the city, according to WNYC.

Assemblyman Jeffries held a press conference on Sunday, joined by joined by Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, Council Member Letitia James and Council Member Jumaane D. Williams, to announce the bill, which he believes will “cultivate greater empathy” between officers and the communities they serve.

Currently, NYPD officers must live in New York City, or the more suburban counties of Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Nassau or Suffolk.

“The vile and racist language used by police officers with respect to the West Indian Day Parade shocks the conscience and demands legislative action. We are not savages. We are not monkeys. We are sick and tired of officers who do not understand and respect our community,” said Assemblyman Jeffries.

“Fifty-three percent of NYPD personnel in the rank of police officer are minorities; 47 percent are white,” according to  NYPD spokesperson Paul Browne, in an email to WNYC.

The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association opposes a city residency requirement, saying that the base salary for a recruit is $41,975, which the Daily News says is hard to live on in the city.

According to a spokesperson for Jeffries, there is no specific study available to support evidence that officers who live within the city limits behave with greater racial sensitivity.