How NYPD's (Blatent Racially Profiling) "Stop and Frisk" Policy Ensnares 600,000 a Year...

[Indi Guy]

How NYPD's "stop and frisk" policy ensnares 600,000 a year: Scenes from 'Vanguard'

In this scene from "The War on Weed," correspondent Christof Putzel hits the streets of New York City with NYC Resistance, an underground videographer who films some of the 600,000 "stop and frisk" searches performed by the NYPD each year. Ninety percent of those who are stopped are black and Latino, and while across the country in Seattle many are allowed to openly smoke marijuana, in New York there are far harsher consequences -- and questionable tactics being used by authorities.

http://current.com/shows/vanguard/93558816_how-nypds-stop-and-frisk-policy-ensnares-600-000-a-year-scenes-from-vanguard.htm

Fight Back To Abolish NYPD's Stop-and-Frisk Regime

This Friday, January 27, at 1p.m., a community campaign protesting the NYPD’s controversial use of the Stop-and-Frisk police practice in communities of color will take place at 149 St. and Third Avenue in the Bronx.

The action was planned by the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, an organization started last July to focus “on the best methods to counter the inhumane 'New Jim Crow' currently enforced by the U.S. criminal injustice system”... snip

According to an analysis by the (NYCLU) New York Civil Liberties Union, “more than 4 million innocent New Yorkers were subjected to police stops and street interrogations from 2004 through 2011… Black and Latino communities continue to be the overwhelming target of these tactics. Nearly nine out of 10 stopped-and-frisked New Yorkers have been completely innocent, according to the NYPD’s own reports. ”

The Stop-and-Frisk figures also underscore this: over 80 percent—in some years close to 90 percent—of those, being stopped by the NYPD, are either African-Americans or Latino. African-Americans are stopped over 50 percent of the time and Latinos over 30 percent of the time. Whites are stopped 9 percent of the time—though some believe this figure is even lower... snip

http://blackstarnews.com/news/135/ARTICLE/7923/2012-01-26.html

It should be noted that possession of small amounts of pot was decriminalized in NY in the 70's.

[pennylane100]

1. Is it legal to stop and frisk without cause?

[Indi Guy]

2. Yes it is illegal; but the cops get around this by saying that...

...the pot they find on these people was "in plain sight" (which is illegal) -- only after they force their victims to reveal the contents of their pockets, wallets etc..

...A despicable perversion of the law!

[pennylane100]

6. but what about the people who are not carrying drugs

can they sue for violation of their rights. I think some lawyers that need work should start a class action suit.

[Indi Guy]

7. A class action suit sounds good to me...

...but it might be hard to get public support, given the social climate in NYC.

[sabrina 1]

9. It was, a horrible law that allowed them to harass minorities for no reason other than the fact

that they ARE minorities. The law has come under fire now and just recently they had to stop the game they were playing by first stopping someone, then ordering them to empty their pockets. They are allowed to have a small amount of pot, eg, so long as they do not display it 'plain sight'. But the cops would tell them to empty their pockets, forcing them to reveal it if they had it, then immediately arrest them for 'showing it in plain sight'.

Ray Kelly needs to be fired. Young African Americans have been consistently harassed under these laws for far too long. Racism is alive and well in the NYPD.

[Indi Guy]

10. There's no other word for it BUT racism...

They dare not try these tactics in mostly white neighborhoods.

[X_Digger]

3. 91% of those 'stopped and frisked' are non-white, and 90% aren't charged.

The NYPD will tell you it's not racial profiling. And they've got a bridge for sale, I hear, too.

http://www.nyclu.org/issues/racial-justice/stop-and-frisk-practices

[div class='excerpt']An analysis by the NYCLU revealed that more than 4 million innocent New Yorkers were subjected to police stops and street interrogations from 2004 through 2011, and that black and Latino communities continue to be the overwhelming target of these tactics. Nearly nine out of 10 stopped-and-frisked New Yorkers have been completely innocent, according to the NYPD’s own reports:

People love to tout NYC's crime figures*- I guess having a virtual police state is the price you pay.



* About those numbers- they're artificially low, because the cops browbeat people into not filing complaints, use artificial criteria to downgrade reports, conveniently 'lose' reports.. see the village voice pieces on Adrian Schoolcraft's whistle blowing.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/09/federal_judge_n.php
http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-06-15/news/adrian-school-craft-nypd-tapes-whistleblower/
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/01/ray_kelly_polic_7.php
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/02/queens_da_takin.php

[Indi Guy]

4. The cops can say anything they want...

...because the DA's let them get away with it. It's a cozy little arrangement where everyone seems to be doing their job -- risk free; while thousands of minority members get caught-up in the system.

...Totally unconstitutional, illegal and unconscionable.

[Indi Guy]

5. Thank you for the resources...

...I'll go through them thoroughly. First, let me post the glaring details of your NCCLU link:

Stop-and-Frisk Campaign: About the Issue

The NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices raise serious concerns over racial profiling, illegal stops and privacy rights. The Department’s own reports on its stop-and-frisk activity confirm what many people in communities of color across the city have long known: The police are stopping hundreds of thousands of law abiding New Yorkers every year, and the vast majority are black and Latino.

An analysis by the NYCLU revealed that more than 4 million innocent New Yorkers were subjected to police stops and street interrogations from 2004 through 2011, and that black and Latino communities continue to be the overwhelming target of these tactics. Nearly nine out of 10 stopped-and-frisked New Yorkers have been completely innocent, according to the NYPD’s own reports:

• In 2004, 315,483 New Yorkers were stopped by the police.
  279,754 were totally innocent (89 percent)
  156,056 were black (50 percent)
  90,468 were Latino (29 percent)
  29,000 were white (9 percent)
  
  
• In 2005, 399,043 New Yorkers were stopped by the police.
  351, 842 were totally innocent (88 percent)
  196,977 were black (49 percent)
  115, 395 were Latino (29 percent)
  40,837 were white (10 percent)
  
  
• In 2006, 508,540 New Yorkers were stopped by the police.
  458,104 were totally innocent (90 percent)
  268,610 were black (53 percent)
  148,364 were Latino (29 percent)
  53,793 were white (11 percent)
  
  
• In 2007, 468,732 New Yorkers were stopped by the police.
  407,923 were totally innocent (87 percent)
  242,373 were black (52 percent)
  142,903 were Latino (31 percent)
  52,715 were white (11 percent)
  
  
• In 2008, 531,159 New Yorkers were stopped by the police.
  465,413 were totally innocent (88 percent)
  271,602 were black (51 percent)
  167,111 were Latino (32 percent)
  57,407 were white (11 percent)
  
  
• In 2009, 575,304 New Yorkers were stopped by the police.
  504,594 were totally innocent (88 percent)
  308,941 were black (54 percent)
  179,576 were Latino (31 percent)
  53,466 were white (9 percent)
  
  
• In 2010, 601,055 New Yorkers were stopped by the police.
  517,458 were totally innocent (86 percent)
  317,642 were black (53 percent)
  190,491 were Latino (32 percent)
  55,083 were white (9 percent)
  
  
• During the first nine months of 2011, 514,461 New Yorkers were stopped by the police.
  451,469 were totally innocent (88 percent)
  276,664 were black (54 percent)
  157,487 were Latino (31 percent)
  46,934 were white (9 percent)

www.nyclu.org/issues/racial-justice/stop-and-frisk-practices

[Uncle Joe]

8. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Indi Guy.