A recording of NYPD's "Stop and Frisk"

[MysticSang'ha]

A 13 minute video offers a recording of a young man who says he was unlawfully searched, restrained, and threatened by law enforcement....

...who say in anonymous interviews that they must keep their numbers up according to their commanding officers....

Sensationalism? Example of racial profiling? Is the phenomenon of recording police activity helping or hurting when any police district is audited or reviewed?

WARNING: Explicit language in video link.

 

[Revoltingest]

Bloomberg is just doing his job to make us safe! The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few! (Spock said something like this, didn't he?)
But here's the real crime....the video presented the statistic that 87% of those stopped & abused, frisked, assaulted & victimized were black or latino. This means that 13% were white! Innocent white folk are being inconvenienced!

 

[Reverend Rick]

Stop and frisk is wrong. There should be exceptions like wearing a trench coat when it is 100 degrees, that is reasonable cause to search.

 

[Revoltingest]

Stop and frisk is wrong. There should be exceptions like wearing a trench coat when it is 100 degrees, that is reasonable cause to search.

....& those fully covered women wearing a mask....er...hijab
....& those Jewish women who wear scarfs in summer heat
....& kids wearing hooded sweatshirts
....&....you get the picture....the exceptions will grow & grow.

 

[iamsharky789]

....& those fully covered women wearing a mask....er...hijab
....& those Jewish women who wear scarfs in summer heat
....& kids wearing hooded sweatshirts
....&....you get the picture....the exceptions will grow & grow.

Then check them equally too. Why are latino and black men being targeted? Prisons are being filled with them and would not survive as a business model without them. Read The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness before you say that.

 

[Reverend Rick]

The key word is unreasonable searches. If I stop you and I am right, then it makes more sense. If you stop thousands and find a dozen, that is fishing.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Stop and frisk is wrong. There should be exceptions like wearing a trench coat when it is 100 degrees, that is reasonable cause to search.

Is wearing a trenchcoat in hot weather evidence of a crime (or even intent to commit a crime)? If so, what crime is it evidence of?

 

[Apex]

Is wearing a trenchcoat in hot weather evidence of a crime (or even intent to commit a crime)? If so, what crime is it evidence of?

It can be evidence of a crime. When I worked at Target we were actually told to look for things like this as it could be a sign of a shop lifter.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

....& those fully covered women wearing a mask....er...hijab
....& those Jewish women who wear scarfs in summer heat
....& kids wearing hooded sweatshirts
....&....you get the picture....the exceptions will grow & grow.

What is the constitutionality of "Stop and Frisk" laws? The defense of these types of laws tend to come from Bloomberg's rhetoric about numbers and increasing the safety of the masses from gun violence. But IMO this is just as indefensible as regular police raids into entire neighborhoods for large drug busts, fully armed, to find an ounce of marijuana.

Last year, in a Bloomberg appearance at a Brownsville church, there was an admittance that racial profiling does exist, and that law enforcement must treat those they approach more respectfully, but does the legislation actually allow for any sort of "respectful" frisking based on appearance alone?

I'm still searching for the constitutionality of this legislation. I read in various sources that a judge was thrown out by the city after that judge made a decision that the law was indeed unconstitutional.

Dang...just trying to wrap my head around this.

 

[oldbadger]

It can be evidence of a crime. When I worked at Target we were actually told to look for things like this as it could be a sign of a shop lifter.

So what did Target want you to do if you saw a trench-coat? Frisk it, or give it customer-care? There's a difference... ?

 

[Apex]

So what did Target want you to do if you saw a trench-coat? Frisk it, or give it customer-care? There's a difference... ?

I didn't say that clothing alone is reason enough for anything. But it can be a consideration when taken with other signs.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

It can be evidence of a crime. When I worked at Target we were actually told to look for things like this as it could be a sign of a shop lifter.

Exactly what would someone be shoplifting on the subway or walking down the sidewalk?

 

[Apex]

Exactly what would someone be shoplifting on the subway or walking down the sidewalk?

Please see my response to oldbadger.

 

[oldbadger]

I didn't say that clothing alone is reason enough for anything. But it can be a consideration when taken with other signs.

That's a wicked back-peddle you've got there!

You said:-

It can be evidence of a crime

Now if Target's Profit Protection Boss is switched on, s/he would be training all staff to approach any 'interesting' persons to give customer-care, 'cos it can save a possible loss, or even produce a profitable sale.

And so, a City cop could approach a trench-coat, offer a 'Good Morning' or whatever, and gauge the situation. But if every person with big bags (!), or other interesting action or condition, is stop-searched............ not good. It would be better to instruct the City CCTV crews to take interest in that person to see how s/he continues through the streets.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Please see my response to oldbadger.

Doesn't really answer my question or address the issues we're talking about.

Police can already stop and arrest someone they catch actually committing a crime without "stop and frisk" laws. In New York, allowable justifications for "stop and frisk" include things like "inappropriate attire for season" and "furtive actions".

 

[Father Heathen]

Then check them equally too. Why are latino and black men being targeted? Prisons are being filled with them and would not survive as a business model without them. Read The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness before you say that.

Are crimes committed with equal proportion between demographics?

 

[iamsharky789]

Are crimes committed with equal proportion between demographics?

They are not being equally checked to make that assertion. america has a history of racism therefore, so not matter how you cut it, there is no equality. That's why we have more minority scholarships and programs to help minorities succeed than for white males.

 

[freethinker44]

Exactly what would someone be shoplifting on the subway or walking down the sidewalk?

Strawman

 

[Tumah]

I think the real question is: Is your safety worth more to you or are your ideals worth more to you?

If safety is more important to you, then you research the demographics and profile accordingly. Someone's hurt feelings is not worth your life.

If discrimination is more important to you, then racial profiling is immoral and should not be done, period. The only way to peaceful coexistence is to remove all traces of racism.

I don't think everyone will be able to agree on the answer to this. Some people care more about their safety and some people care more about their ideals.

 

[Father Heathen]

They are not being equally checked to make that assertion. america has a history of racism therefore, so not matter how you cut it, there is no equality. That's why we have more minority scholarships and programs to help minorities succeed than for white males.

Seems rather presumptuous and arbitrary.