Truths of Stop-and-frisk NYC!
Truths about stop-and-frisk: On Monday a judge ruled that stop-and-frisk in the city of
New York is unconstitutional. In which NYPD officers are using stop-and-frisk
as an excuse to racially profile young minorities in the city. Finally someone
that can do something about sees how unconstitutional stop-and-frisk really is.
New Yorkers, especially minorities who were primarily the targets of stop-and-frisk
can again walk the streets of New York without worrying about a police officer
or detective randomly stopping them and frisking them for no apparent reason.
The truth is, stop-and-frisk should have never been something police officers
can do. Many New Yorkers are unclear as to what this actually means. U.S. District Judge Shira
Scheindlin says that stop-and-frisk is not going to end but she wants it to be
known that stop-and-frisk should be carried out in a manner in which the
liberties and rights of all New Yorkers are protected but still providing
police protection. The fact that police officers were targeting young
minorities is appalling but I’m sure stop-and-frisk was happening every day and
all the time. While I agree the streets of New York have to be protected but I
disagree that aggressive stop-and-frisk is the way to do it.
Who started
stop-and-frisk?
Now, we might ask
ourselves who thought that stop-and-frisk was a good idea in the first place?
The mayor of New York, Michel Bloomberg who has come up with all sorts of laws
that most people feel are unconstitutional. It didn’t come to a surprise to
most New Yorkers that stop-and-frisk was happening; they were more surprised
that stop-and-frisk was actually allowed. The mayor came out and said he felt
that stop-and-frisk didn’t receive a fair trial. Is it fair that stop-and-frisk
targeted mainly young minorities, is that not considered racial profiling? He
stated that stop-and-frisk helped bring the crime rate in NYC to an all time
low. Mr. Bloomberg feels that if stop-and-frisk does cease to exist that the
city’s crime rate will rise once again. While I agree, I don’t feel like
stop-and-frisk should only be targeted to young minorities. Mr. Bloomberg will
be out of office at years end after serving three terms, will this be the end
of stop-and-frisk or at least the NYPD will be more fair as to who they target
while practicing stop-and-frisk.
The future for stop-and-frisk
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What does the future hold for stop-and-frisk? There are many
opinions as to what the future should be for stop-and-frisk. NYPD officers
should wear on body cameras to monitor their activities while performing a
stop-and-frisk. This will determine if the officers are taking the necessary
steps or procedures while conducting a stop-and-frisk. Personally, I think this
I s a great idea, it will show if police officers are really targeting
minorities for stop-and-frisk. Another viable option they may have when performing
stop-and-frisk is to use contact cards to document the interactions. Using
these contact cards as used in Chicago will not only keep stop-and-frisk alive
but will make it much more maintainable and limit racial profiling. NYPD has to
have some type of training for its officers to make sure they are taking the
right procedures while performing a stop-and-frisk. I certainly agree the
streets of New York do have to be safe but when it comes to officers violating citizen’s
rights while performing stop-and-frisk, that’s when it becomes a problem.
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