Pros And Cons Of Stop And Frisk

1979 Words8 Pages
There is a controversial stop and frisk law that has raised a debate in the New York City community, mainly the Brooklyn borough where the practice is more common. Stop and frisk is when “police will detain and question pedestrians, and potentially search them, if they have a "reasonable suspicion" that the pedestrian in question "committed, is committing, or is about to commit a felony"(Matthews). The law became active in New York City since the early 2000s under the past mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg, police commissioners, the NYPD, and some residents claim the law effectively lowered the crime and murder rates compared to the past decade by taking guns off the street, were practiced ethically and boosted the economy. The current mayor…show more content…
Meg Wagner and Thomas Tracy reported an incident when “cops protecting tiny Park Slope, Brooklyn, tailed a group of black teens in their patrol car and ordered them to “get out of the neighborhood’”. Goldstein notes that a federal court found that police stops were often without legal justification. In 2012 the Stop-and-Frisk Data reports that New Yorkers were stopped 532,911 times, about 90% were innocent, blacks made up 55% of the stops, Latinos made up 32% of the stops, and whites made up 10% of the stops. In Stop and Frisk City “these statistics suggest some incidents of stop and frisk are racially motivated”(Fallon 321-322). A young teen in a predominantly black neighborhood Brownsville said “he had been stopped 10 times since turning 13” and he knows it’s because he’s black. Goldstein notes “ the stops rarely turned up evidence of criminality but became a fact of life for young black and Hispanic men in high-crime neighborhoods and public housing projects in particular.” Chandler reported that Sharpton stated, “when you look at the data, 41 percent of the people stopped and frisked in New York are young Black and Latino men 18 through 25 [years of age], yet they’re only 4.1 percent of the population.” The constant target of stops directed to young black men has contributed greatly to the debate with the…show more content…
There have been several incidents where brutality has occurred during a stop, “Eric Garner died in July after a struggle with police officers…who were trying to arrest him for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes”(Goldstein). Tara Culp-Ressler noted that a new study published in American Journal of Public Health states “young men in New York City who frequently have intrusive encounters with the police report increased levels of anxiety and trauma.” The research provides evidence that “poverty, racism, and discrimination takes a toll on health”(Culp-Ressler). The frequent encounters of discrimination have heightened the stress level of black teens putting them at greater risk for chronic conditions later in life. Culp-Ressler noted, “racial discrimination has been linked to high blood pressure and psychological stressors.” Culp-Ressler also states “ The mass incarceration of black men has left fewer researchers with fewer African America participants in their clinical trial, which may prevent them from being able to develop medical treatments that work as well for people of color as they do for white people.” Brutality displayed by police are depicted on YouTube videos, BROOKLYN COP STOMPS ON CUFFED MANS FACE (81st Precinct) and BROOKLYN NYPD BRAWL !. In these videos the cops are clearly
Show More
Related

  • Pros And Cons Of Stop And Frisk

    943 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Stop and Frisk,” a policy which initial intention was to decrease crime rates, became a system of subliminal racial profiling for police officers that more often than not result in intrusive, momentary detentions that ingrained fear in people of color. Biased opinions and spontaneous detentions intensified the insecurity a man of color undergoes when walking the street; afraid that at any moment, he will be stopped by a police officer who would have solely based his or her suspicions on physical

    Read More

More about Pros And Cons Of Stop And Frisk

Open Document