At times this week, it was hard to believe people debating the City Council's new racial profiling bill were arguing over the same piece of legislation.

Critics sketched out a looming hellscape should the law be upheld, where cowed police officers sit in their cars to watch citizens get gunned down, emerging to make arrests only after the bodies hit the pavement.

Supporters described a future where New York remains among the safest cities in America, while minimizing the degradation that comes with stopping and frisking innocent New Yorkers—most of them young, male minorities.

On Thursday, the City Council passed a pair of bills to increase police oversight. One would create an inspector general for the department, while the other would strengthen laws against racial profiling, including enabling people to sue the police in state court if they believe they have been discriminated against.

The bill doesn't allow for monetary damages, but judges could overrule or modify New York Police Department policy if they believe there is a less discriminatory way to achieve the same public-safety aims or if they believe it discriminates without a clear safety benefit.