NEW YORK, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- New York City Council members have voted to override Mayor Michael Bloomberg's veto of two bills aimed at the police department's stop-and-frisk policy.
In an overwhelming 34-15 vote, the council revived two bills Bloomberg vowed in June he would prevent from becoming law, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
One ordinance creates a permanent inspector general to monitor the activities of the New York police department. The other allows racial profiling suits to be filed in state court. It also expands the definition of profiling.
Neither bill explicitly ordered the police department to change its stop-and-frisk policies.
Only 10 days earlier, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled Bloomberg's stop-and-frisk policy resulted in the "disproportionate and discriminatory" stopping of black and Hispanic males.
Bloomberg has already filed an appeal to Sheindlin's order that a federal monitor oversee changes.
In an e-mail, Bloomberg said he would contest the ordinances in court.
"Make no mistake," he said, "the communities that will feel the most negative impacts of these bills will be minority communities across our city, which have been the greatest beneficiaries of New York City's historic crime reductions."
Council Member Jumaane Williams, the lead sponsor of both bills, challenged Bloomberg's claim.
"We are tired of lies," Williams said. "We are tired of fear mongering. They [Bloomberg and police commissioner Raymond Kelly] will go down in history as the people who tried to prevent progress."
