Do you support the stop and frisk law? (New York, York: crime, neighbourhood)
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Support it 100%. Yes you have some bad apple cops that give the rest a bad name but that shouldn't stop the stop & frisk program. The people against it say it targets minorities but if it's minorities doing the bulk of the crimes, who else do you expect the cops to search? The cops go where the crimes are.
Look at all the black on black shootings, it's out of control. You are likely to find a gun on a black man than on a white man in NYC. So they want to call stopping a black man discrimination yet the numbers back up the likelihood of finding a gun on a black man. Here's a thought...if you ain't do nothing and you got nothing on you, you got nothing to worry about.
If you stopped by a cop, let them do their thing, let them search you in confidence know you ain't got nothing on you, once they're done, thank them for doing their job and politely ask them what tiggered them to stop you. End of story, keep it moving.
I say stop it. Unless, the enitre nation allows this to go on, then there is no room for it here in NYC. As an Asian, I have been stop and frisked numerous times for no reason at all, just because cops were fishing for anything to pin on me. How mnay Asians commit crimes? What are the stats? End of story, keep it moving.
It's unconstitutional and it's been proven that cops have quotas they have to fill, or else face disciplinary action. That means that cops on the street are being forced by their superiors to stop people of color, regardless of whether or not they are doing anything wrong, to fill quotas that go all the way up to Commissioner Ray Kelley. Less than 10% of these invasive stops lead to arrest or summons (and only a fraction of those lead to conviction), so more than 90% of those being stopped and frisked are doing anything wrong. Those who are arrested are usually arrested for small amounts of narcotics. Those issued a summons are often given one for stupid reasons like obstructing traffic if the issuing officer doesn't like the cut of their jib, or if they ask questions and stand up for their rights. More than 600,000 of these invasive stops are made in a given year, and 1.4 million people have been stopped and frisked since the start of Bloomberg's term - that's more than 10% of the population of NYC. Sounds like a police state to me. Furthermore, 84% of those stopped have been black or Latino.
I will never live in NYC until these odious, discriminatory, unconstitutional laws are struck down by SCOTUS.
The only reason anyone supports them is because it's not happening in their neighbourhood, or to them or their family members. If the program were expanded to all neighbourhoods in New York, and quotas were adjusted to ensure that stops were proportional to the percentage of a minority group's population in a given neighbourhood (so that if whites make up 80% of the population in a neighbourhood, 80% of those stopped must be white), watch how fast the policy disappears. Right now there is only support for this draconian approach to law and order because the victims are mostly black and Latino. When middle and upper-middle class whites start experiencing this kind of harassment on a daily basis then watch how quickly the public changes its mind about the tactic.
Besides the stops being tantamount to police harassment, discriminatory, and unconstitutional, Stop & Frisk is ripe for abuse by over zealous cops looking to harass citizens, especially those who are assertive, object to invasive searches not permitted by Stop & Frisk (which only allows for a pat-down), or ask questions about why they were stopped and ensure the police follow the law. There are hundreds of stories of police issuing summonses for petty offences like obstructing traffic, or arresting people on spurious grounds for challenging their authority during a Stop and Frisk. These tactics are no different than those used by police in totalitarian regimes to spread fear and ensure compliance by a cowed public. There is a link on this board to a mini-documentary on The Nation's website entitled 'What a Stop and Frisk Sounds Like' that shows how abusive police can be to individuals they stop, and has interviews with officers who explain how a quota system forces them to perform these invasive procedures despite their objections. Apparently these procedures have become a cornerstone in Mayor Bloomberg's anti-crime strategy, so the pressure comes from the very top and anyone who doesn't tow the line ends up being disciplined. This type of quota system is illegal, but commanding officers have recently testified in hearings that it does exist and is enforced.
So if you think Stop & Frisk is great because it reduces crime, remember the Fourth Amendment and how you would feel if the police violated your right to protection against unlawful search and seizure. Some might say "if I'm not doing anything wrong, I have no problem letting the police search me." But imagine living in a city where the police could stop you at any time, frisk you, insult you, harass you, issue you a summons for no reason, or even arrest you if you object. Now imagine having to worry about this happening to you every day at any time. Remember that 90% of those stopped under this program were released without any charge or summons - is it worth violating the rights of 9 American citizens because there is a possibility of the 10th having some drugs on them, or loitering or "obstructing traffic"? I would like to know how many of these 1.4 million people stopped have been found in possession of a firearm....is it enough to justify an entire city giving up their Fourth Amendment rights? Just wait until it's you they're stopping.
i still agree with the policy, but the way it is applied obviously needs to be more regulated so the criminal cops dont get to get away with this typa abuse
I say stop it. Unless, the enitre nation allows this to go on, then there is no room for it here in NYC. As an Asian, I have been stop and frisked numerous times for no reason at all, just because cops were fishing for anything to pin on me. How mnay Asians commit crimes? What are the stats? End of story, keep it moving.
I thought Asians are unlikely targets of stop and frisk. There are lots of Asians in my community. I haven't seen or heard any has been stopped and frisked. Cops don't bother even those Chinese teenagers in groups.
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