Emotions ran high at a hearing yesterday on the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk policy, as the City Council considers legislation that would redefine it forever. The Community Safety Act would require officers to identify themselves and explain their actions as they stop and frisk people on the streets, and to make clear that a person has a right to refuse a search. The act would also set up an inspector general's office to oversee the NYPD, and would clarify discrimination laws that are already on the books. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not attend the hearing, but both have repeatedly said in the past that stop-and-frisk has been key in lowering the city's murder rate. Members of the City Council last night disputed that. The public will get a change to weigh in on the policy during a public hearing that will be held on Oct. 23 at Brooklyn College.City Council mulls stop-and-frisk reforms