Police Commissioner Ray Kelley’s NYPD canceled a public hearing which had been scheduled for August 23rd. The hearing was going to allow public comment on a change in the rules of the City of New York. The rule withdrawn by the NYPD wanted to make two people jaywalking subject to arrest as an unauthorized parade.
The cancellation came the day after three city council members, Rosy Mendez, Alan Gerson, and Gale Brewer, spoke out against the proposed changes at an event known as the “People’s Public Forum.”
The Forum was organized by a diverse coalition of groups including United for Peace and Justice, the National Lawyers Guild, the NYC Bike Coalition, and the Coalition of NYC Blogs. All three city council people called on the public to attend the hearing on the 23rd.
The NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information issued a statement which read;
In view of comments already received on the proposed revision to Chapter 19 of Title 38 of the Official Compilation of Rules of the City of New York, the Police Department has withdrawn the proposed revisions regarding parade permits and will publish new ones in the City Record narrower in scope with a new hearing date. As a result, the public hearing scheduled for Wednesday, August 23, 2006 has been cancelled.
It is not clear a narrower proposal would be satisfactory to the concerned organizations and individuals. Norman Siegel spoke at last night’s Forum and denounced the use of rule making power by Commissioner Kelly to define the laws. Siegel emphasized that defining the law is the proper role of the City Council and not the NYPD.
“If the City Council doesn’t take the proper role here, they’ve sold us out on a fundamental issue of our right to protest,” Siegel said. “We don’t lose our civil liberties with a big bang. We lose them incrementally and quietly.”
Councilman Alan Gerson has already proposed introducing legislation into the City Council, based on, Washington D.C.’s parading law, which would trump Commissioner Kelly’s rulemaking power by changing the Parade Permitting law within the Administrative Code.