Profiling Controversy in New York
BALDWIN: Near the bottom of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for staying with us here. I want to talk about this controversial ad from the New York City police union. It shows this blindfolded police officer. This here is the union's response to a proposed bill that it says would effectively blindfold people and hamper them from doing their job day in and day out. So this bill would reportedly let people sue New York police officers personally -- we're getting you in a minute, Mike Brooks -- if they felt they were victims of racial profiling. So, let me bring in Alina Cho. She is reporting on this for us out of New York. And here is HLN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks, who is clearly fired up sitting next to me here in the studio. Brooksie, we're going to get to you. Alina, first to you, because you have been tracking this, this controversial bill. Walk us through why some of these officers are so frustrated.</s>ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they basically say, Brooke, that they can -- that this would embolden criminals and result in a crime -- a spike in crime. And really all you have to do is look at the cover of "The New York Post" today and you will see, as part of it drops, why this story is getting so much attention. You showed it right there. This provocative ad was released today by one of the city's police unions. And the ad asks, "How effective is a police officer with a blindfold on?" Now, the union says the City Council is essentially trying to ban officers from using race, gender or age to identify suspects. Now, that is not necessarily the case. Listen carefully. The new proposal, which was introduced by some members of the Council, would essentially allow people to sue not only the city, but police officers personally, if they feel they were the victim of racial profiling. It is a little confusing. But it comes down to those words. It wouldn't ban the officers from necessarily using race or gender or age to profile. But if the wrong person is chosen, they could sue.