#City Council seeks to change chokehold law over NYPD concerns

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The City Council is planning to amend a portion of the controversial new chokehold law in an attempt to assuage concerns by the NYPD that the ban makes it more dangerous for cops to do their jobs, sources told The Post.

The changes will affect the part of the law that makes it a crime for an officer to apply pressure to someone’s diaphragm. De Blasio signed the legislation last month.

“We’re going to add some language to clarify the parameters,” said one council insider.

“The thing we’ve heard is people have said, “If you touch [someone’s] back you’re going to go to jail,” the source said.

A few words will be included to clarify that’s not the case, the source said, adding that council members are still negotiating the exact changes with City Hall officials.

NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan called the diaphragm portion of the bill “dangerous” during a PIX11 interview in July.

“Any cop who’s ever fought with someone on the street, trying to get him into cuffs, there’s a great possibility that your knee is going to end up on that individual’s back, and now this new law is criminalizing it,” Monahan said.

“We try to avoid that, but in the midst of a fight, it’s pretty hard to make sure that doesn’t happen,” said Monahan. “When you have to worry that someone who may have taken a shot at you that you are now arresting, if your knee hits their back, you become the criminal.”

“It is a dangerous, dangerous portion of that bill,” he said.

Police unions have said the law makes it impossible for cops to safely arrest criminals.

The council’s Brooklyn delegation is meeting virtually Tuesday night to discuss the issue. Council leadership plans to present the revised bill this Thursday at the council’s regular meeting.

But some members are concerned the changes won’t protect cops from unwarranted prosecution.

“I’m not sure it goes far enough but we will see,” said Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island).

A rep for Council Speaker Johnson and City Hall did not immediately respond to requests for comment.