Proof he asked cop why
Zoom call with Councilman Salaam disputes NYPD take on pulling him over
After Councilman Yusef Salaam’s account of recently being pulled over by cops prompted the NYPD to release video and an explanation of the incident — saying he was stopped because of driving with tinted windows — the pol’s allies are focusing on what was said, or not, during the exchange.
Salaam has argued that the Friday incident shows the need for the How Many Stops Act, which would require cops to document every investigative encounter they have with civilians, though the legislation would not require officers to explain the reason they stop individuals.
Still, Salaam’s allies say the cops who stopped the councilman, a member of the exonerated Central Park Five who recently became chair of the Council’s Public Safety Committee, should have given him a reason for pulling him over.
Several participants on a Zoom call with Salaam at the time of the incident backed up his assertion that he asked a police officer who stopped him in Harlem why he was being pulled over.
Councilwoman Sandy Nurse (D-Brooklyn), Mandela Jones of the Council speaker’s office and Michael Sisitzky of the New York Civil Liberties Union say they heard the question.
“We clearly heard it on the Zoom, because as soon as he left, we started talking about it. Like, ‘Why didn’t he answer your question?’ ” Nurse said Sunday.
The incident, which drew a mix of criticism and support for Salaam, came as the Council is set Tuesday to override Mayor Adams’ veto of the How Many Stops Act. The conference call with Salaam in part focused on that bill.
“It was a missed opportunity by the officer to alert the Council member of whatever it was that he was stopping him for,” Nurse said. “He was willing to engage, and the officer just failed to let him know, so we were left thinking, ‘What could this be about?’ “
Police body camera video of the stop does not show Salaam explicitly asking the question during the brief traffic stop.
“I introduced myself as Councilman Yusef Salaam, and subsequently asked the officer why I was pulled over,” Salaam said in a statement. “Instead of answering my question, the officer stated, ‘We’re done here’ and proceeded to walk away.”
A 41-second video of the encounter released by the NYPD differed from his account of what happened, though it’s not clear whether the footage captured the entire police stop.
The audio in the released footage begins immediately, but footage from Axon body cameras have a “buffering” period in which audio isn’t recorded until 60 seconds after an officer activates the camera’s recording switch.
The officer identifies himself and Salaam responds, “I’m Council member Salaam.”
“Oh, Council member?” the cop replies, with Salaam then saying, “This district, [Council] District 9.”
“Oh, OK. Have a good one,” the officer says, then starts walking from the car.
“Everything OK?” Salaam asks, and the officer responds, “Yep. You’re working, right?”
Salaam’s brief reply is not audible before the officer says, “Take care, sir.”
The video does not capture any interaction between Salaam and the officer’s partner, who approached from the passenger side. The NYPD did not immediately answer followup questions, including a question about the 60-second buffering period, on Sunday.
In a statement released Saturday, the NYPD said Salaam’s car had Georgia license plates and “dark tints beyond legal limits.”
“As the video shows, throughout this interaction, the officer conducted himself professionally and responsibly.
“He followed all proper procedures, including procedures that were put in place after Detective Russel Timoshenko was shot and killed through tinted windows in 2007,” the NYPD statement reads.
“This officer should be commended for his polite, professional and respectful conduct and for using his discretion appropriately so the Council member could complete his official duties.”
Salaam, who was exonerated after spending years in prison as one of the Central Park Five teens wrongly convicted in the 1989 Central Park jogger rape case, lived in Georgia for several years until recently returning to New York City. He was elected to the City Council in November.
Attempts to reach him Sunday were unsuccessful.
“I heard him ask why he’d been stopped and didn’t hear any answer from NYPD,” Sisitzky, an assistant policy director for the NYCLU, said on X. “I don’t care who you are or what type of stop it is, you should have the right to know basic info about why cops are stopping you.”
He conceded that city law does not require cops to give explanations for traffic stops, but added, “How hard is it to articulate that in the moment?”
Jones, deputy chief of staff for Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Queens), said he was also on the call.
“I heard him ask and the officer said something afterwards to end the engagement. We were discussing the Stops bill and the ride-along,” he said, referring to Mayor Adams’ invitation to Council members to ride along with cops Saturday night. Salaam was planned to participate but canceled.
A number of Council members joined Adams in the ride-along, part of an effort to dissuade lawmakers from overriding his How Many Stops Act veto.
Some pols took Salaam to task over the Friday 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,” tweeted Councilman Bob Holden (D-Queens), who called for Salaam to lose his Public Safety Committee chairmanship.