A Local Law to amend the New York City charter in relation to the New York Police Department, Office of Emergency Management, and other related agencies to organize a backlash mitigation plan to be implemented immediately following an event that may initiate backlash, bias, violence or hate crimes against protected groups as defined in the administrative code of the city of New York § 8-102 (22).

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Legislative findings and intent.
History demonstrates that events such as war, regional conflict, global health epidemics, economic stress, and emergencies perceived as acts of terrorism often spark bias crimes against particular protected groups, in spite of the tolerance of the majority of Americans of religious and ethnic differences. The City Council recognizes its responsibility to protect both those groups who are currently under threat, as well as those groups who may be targets in the future.
New York City has seen past incidents have heightened tension against and between the city’s residents. The riots targeting Jews in Crown Heights during 1991 and the heightened backlash against Chinese-Americans during the SARs scare are two such examples.
In addition, the events surrounding the tragedy of September 11, 2001 saw a wave of hostile sentiment directed towards Arabs and Muslims residing in the United States, and particularly those living in New York City. This hostility was demonstrated by an increase in hate-crimes committed against Arabs, Muslims, Sikhs, South Asians and those perceived to be so.
The New York Attorney General’s office reported that crimes that targeted Middle Easterners quintupled in 2001. The New York Police Department received 103 reports of hate crimes against Arabs and Muslims in the three months after September 11th, though they usually receive only seven reports of bias crimes per year. Nationally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported a seventeen-fold increase in anti-Muslim crimes during 2001. The Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee reported over six hundred hate crimes committed against Arabs, Muslims, or those perceived to be Arab or Muslim in the aftermath of the September 11th attack.
Though unique in their severity and extent, the post-September 11 violence against those perceived to be Arabs and Muslims was not unprecedented. War in the Middle East or terrorist attacks against the United States are usually followed by predictable cycles of hate violence. And while those perceived to be Arabs and Muslims are OFTEN the targets, it is possible that any protected group as defined in administrative code § 8-102(22) might become a target of backlash hate crime violence in the future.
While New York City police and public officials took measures to reduce the post September 11th backlash crimes and to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators. The City Council believes New York City would benefit from a pre-existing plan to mitigate hate violence that can be quickly implemented to protect New York City residents in the event of disasters or incidents that have precipitated such violence in the past. .
Indeed, local government can take measures to mitigate surges of hate violence aimed at identifiable and protected classes. City officials can identify groups likely to be targeted, build relationships with community and religious leaders, air public service announcements condemning violence and threatening strict prosecution, and train police officers to identify hate crimes.
The prevention of hate violence falls squarely within the mandate of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) and in particular its Hate Crimes Taskforce. The NYPD should play an integral part in developing a hate violence emergency plan to be carried out by its officers during a disaster. The lack of a city-wide plan to immediately protect against threats of violence against identifiable and protected groups after an emergency warrants legislation in this area.
§2. Hence, this bill shall amend Chapter 1 of title 10 of the administrative code of the city of New York thereby adding a new section 10-165, to read as follows:

§10-165- The New York City Police Department, in collaboration with other city agencies, shall lead the City's response to events that spark hate violence against identifiable groups as defined in administrative code of the city of New York § 8-102 (22) by preparing a plan to address any emergency conditions and incidents that may cause backlash, bias, violence or hate crimes against these groups. In preparing said plan, the commissioner shall consult and coordinate with the Office of Emergency Management, Mayor’s Office, affected community groups, and any other public or private agencies or sources as determined by the commissioner such as the Immigrant Affairs Office, Community Assistance Unit, Department of Youth and Community Development and/or the Department of Education, to assist in promulgating the most effective strategy feasible and to conduct, at minimum, one public hearing in each borough of the city of New York for the development of said plan. The commissioner shall be required to submit an annual report which shall be submitted to the City Council and the Mayor’s Office and presented in a public hearing. The report shall outline the hate violence mitigation plan, describe events where the plan was implemented, and outline the successes or failures of the plan including a statistical record of the affect on backlash hate crimes;
§3. This local law shall be effective thirty days after its enactment.