NYPD Unions Sue to Block Stop-and-Frisk Settlement

Five NYPD unions filed motions on Friday seeking to block the city's settlement ending the stop-and-frisk lawsuit on Friday, arguing it would leave in place a federal judge's "grossly flawed" rulings.

The filings by the unions represent a potentially significant kink in New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to end the long-running legal battle over the controversial policing tactic.

De Blasio announced in January that he would settle a lawsuit against the city over the NYPD's use of stop and frisk, brought by legal advocacy group the Center for Contitutional Rights. District Judge Shira Scheindlin found last year the tactic unconstitutionally discriminated against black and Latino New Yorkers.

Unions representing NYPD patrolmen, sergeants, captains, lieutenants and detectives are charging, however, that de Blasio's decision to drop an appeal of Scheindlin's ruling was motivated by politics, rather than the best interests of the police. The Sergeants Benevolent Association states in its brief that "to the extent that the City ever adequately represented the SBA's interests, it certainly does not now that it has decided to abandon the appeal."

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