Poll: A worthwhile compromise on the Right to Know Act?

Last week, in the immediate wake of the tragic police killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the subsequent mass shooting against Dallas police officers at a peaceful protest, we put out a poll gauging the opinion about a pair of bills that languished in the New York City Council that would have increased accountability regarding police stops. The two bills, known as the Right to Know Act, would require police officers to to inform individuals that it was their right to withdraw or deny consent to a search, and force officers to identify themselves and explain why they stopped an individual at the end of any interaction that didn’t end with an arrest or summons.

Less than a week later, those bills appear to be effectively scuttled, as City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito struck a behind-closed-doors deal with Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton to instead allow the NYPD to enforce those rules internally as part of the agency rule book.

It's a controversial decision by Mark-Viverito, who has made police reform a central part of her legacy as speaker, and is now relying on the NYPD to enforce these rule changes, with no legislative oversight.

Out of 317 responses to our unscientific poll last week, only 8 people stated they did not support the Right to Know Act, with nearly 97.5 percent stating they were in support. So now, with the rule changes in place and the Right to Know Act unlikely to see a floor vote, we want to know if any opinions have changed - do you support the rule changes agreed to by the Council speaker, mayor and police commissioner? Let us know in the poll below.

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