NYPD Sets Stop-And-Frisks Record In 2008

In 2008 the NYPD set a new record with 531,159 stop-and-frisks. During the first three months of 2009 they were on pace to shatter that record, performing 170,000 stop-and-frisks. This was happening even as the news media was focused on the arrest of Professor Gates. The reactions of many Americans to President Obama's comments have shown a great degree of misunderstanding about the racial overtones that still exist between the police and communities of color. The President expressed his hope that this incident could prove "a teachable moment." I hope so too. And I strongly feel that if we are to learn anything about the realities of racial profiling, we should look no further than street corners in our black and Latino neighborhoods, where law-abiding individuals are constantly stopped and searched in the streets by police officers.

While the arbitrariness of these stop-and-frisks is shocking, the statistics are not. They demonstrate that race is an almost exclusive factor. They also demonstrate that there is no probable cause or reasonable suspicion. 89% of the 170,000 stops resulted in neither an arrest nor a summons. Clearly there was no reason to suspect these individuals were committing any crime other than the color of their skin and the neighborhood they happened to be walking in. This is discrimination, and it violates the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. And what's more is that they simply don't serve a viable public safety purpose. It is not smart law enforcement policy to violate innocent people's rights. The only reason to search someone would be if they fit the description of a suspected perpetrator of an actual crime. And "fitting the description" can't just rely on the factor of race; age, height, weight, dress and other distinguishing characteristics must also be considered.

Arresting individuals in possession of small quantities of marijuana appears to be a motivating factor behind many stop-and-frisks. Given that the Police Department is expending so much energy on non-violent crime, perhaps we need to rethink our policies regarding marijuana on the local and national level, and certainly halt the increasing rate of prosecutions for small quantities of marijuana possession, with its predictably disproportionate impact on young men of color.

The stop-and-frisk issue is a keen example of why New York City needs an activist Public Advocate. Police-community relations would be a central focus of a Siegel Public Advocate office. While I was Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, I was one of the authors of legislation creating the independent Civilian Complaint Review Board, put in place in July 1993 to monitor police conduct. Unfortunately the CCRB does not have the standing to seriously address the stop-and-frisk problem. Its substantiation rate is way too low and the trust of the community is waning. As Public Advocate I would hold the CCRB accountable, recommending specific deadlines for action on complaints. And the lawyers who prosecute these cases should not be lawyers who work for the Police Department. Moreover, in major cases involving allegations of police misconduct, New York State should have an independent statewide prosecutor with jurisdiction over brutality and corruption, which I called for in the wake of the Sean Bell shooting and verdict.

Even if the CCRB is strengthened, the Public Advocate must also provide oversight. I would appoint a Deputy Public Advocate to deal specifically with equality issues as they relate to race, gender, sexual orientation, age, income and disability. I would hold town-hall meetings to educate people about what their rights are when they are stopped by the police. I would speak out against stop-and-frisks, publicly criticize them, and do whatever I can to ameliorate the situation. If necessary, we would go to court to enjoin the NYPD against continuing the practice.

Former Mayor Giuliani was recently quoted in response to President Obama's statement on the arrest of Professor Gates: "He's actually right. It is teachable. Here's the lesson: Shut up." The former Mayor is dead wrong on this issue, and the callousness of his statement is symptomatic of his policies that still haunt community-police relations in this city. I'd like to broadcast a different message, which I hope to make the message of the New York City Public Advocate's office: We will not shut up. We will not continue to ignore the racial profiling and stop-and-frisk tactics that are consuming the energy of our police officers. Stop-and-frisks are disrespectful, they are unconstitutional, and they need to stop, because they result in exacerbating already too-high tensions between the police and African-American and Latino communities, without serving an overriding valid public purpose.

Norman Siegel is a candidate for NYC Public Advocate. Visit his website for more information.

Follow Norman Siegel on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NormanSiegel

Comments

[bqueen9bee]

I live in East Harlem and it is disgusting to watch the stop and frisks because it sends a message to all young men of color in my neighborhood that they should expect this type of treatment. The major concern of course is that apparently the young of men of color in my neighborhood have been rendered or classified as subhuman by the police department because I cannot imagine anyone in the police department considering their own humanity to willingly submit to such a practice. I watched a young man get a ticket for riding a bicycle. Before the police departed, one of the officers frisked him. What does riding a bike illegally on the sidewalk have to do with having probable cause to search a person? NONE! Council Member Vallone Jr. has said, “Stop and frisks have been going up for the past three years and the reason is because they work.” “The Constitution's nice and quaint, but whatever works, right?” (Gothamist, 2009). Every elected official in the United States is pledged to uphold the Constitution of the United States. The community should be upset over his trivialization of the law of the land!
I personally cannot see where this practice serves a purpose in my community and if you ask anyone who lives here there are plenty of other things that the police can and should be doing in order to make our neighborhood a better place to live.

[budderbean]

I amazes me that no one has weighed in on this post.. This is a very important issue for all concerned.­. We have the ACLU.. But law enforcement has their own union. This is the slippery slope. Where the rubber hit's the road between the public and government. The average American. Black white Latino, Have all become game.. When you have police unions that have become as powerful as the teamsters that has multiple built in protections through the ability to hire the best attorney, who have the best connections, Then is when your union member FEEL that they can make the rules rather than follow them.
We have a culture in law enforcement and the way they interact with community's. They still seem to have the Ronald Reagan simplistic answer of."Just say no". Book'um Dano.. Watch 1 Adam 12.. watch Cop's.. We have allowed the genie out of the bottle. Now we need to tame it. If we don't all those ex Blackwater guy's will still be able to spot out the bad guy in the crowed