In early June, in an effort to make a public profession of faith to BLM and to let the men and women of the NYPD know that they were on their own, the New York City Council passed a piece of legislation called Administrative Code Section 10-181. This law, passed over the strenuous objections of the police unions bans chokeholds and it outlaws sitting or kneeling on the backs or chests of suspects who are being restrained:

Despite a last-minute effort to insert exceptions into a measure to ban the use of chokeholds by the NYPD, Mayor de Blasio said Thursday he is prepared to sign the legislation as written.

“I’ve worked on this closely in the last few days, I am now convinced this is the right legislation to move forward with, and I will sign it,” de Blasio said during his daily briefing at City Hall.

The comments mark a turnaround after weeks in which the mayor said he believed an exception should be included in the bill language to allow officers to use the maneuver in life or death situations.

After failing to get that included in the bill, the administration then proposed another loophole, which would have allowed an officer to sit, kneel or stand on someone’s back or chest under certain circumstances.

Neither exception is included in the bill, which the City Council is expected to pass Thursday.

This is just the height of stupidity and will have the unintended consequence of forcing officers to use much more deadly means of keeping resisting suspects under restraint. But it is having another consequence. Police from Westchester County will no longer operate inside of New York City:

Officials from three police departments overseeing a region that neighbors New York City have ordered their officers to halt any enforcement activity in the city out of concern over a recently enacted chokehold ban that places limitations on the ways in which arrests can be made.
…
And earlier this week, New York State Troopers Benevolent Association President Thomas Mungeer asked the head of State Police to immediately remove the approximately 200 members who were assigned roles in New York City.

Westchester County bars its police officers from NYC because of incredibly reckless @NYCCouncil Bill that criminalizes, among other things, the compression of a subjects chest who is forcibly resisting arrest.

Other jurisdictions are said to be considering similar policies. pic.twitter.com/atkhlYgVxv

— NYCPBA Legal (@NYCPBA_GC) July 17, 2020

*** PRESS RELEASE *** Yonkers Police Commissioner John J. Mueller issues order to cease law enforcement activity in NYC

Yonkers, NY – Yonkers Police Commissioner John J. Mueller said today he is prohibiting officers under his command from …#YonkersPD @CityofYonkers @NYPDnews pic.twitter.com/87t9pwIqAL

— Yonkers Police HQ (@YonkersPD) July 17, 2020

This is as it should be. If New York City wants to create an environment that increases the danger to police officers and suspects then there is no good reason why anyone else should voluntarily participate. You can bet that this will lead to an increase in violent crime as police officers are incentivized to NOT arrive on the scene while the crime is taking place and possibly end up in prison for restraining someone illegally. New York City has effectively depoliced itself, the only question is how much time and how many lives will be lost before the situation is righted.