'STOP & FRISK'- NYPD Racial Profiling of Black Men to face court challenge

[humble]

Re: STOP "Stop & Frisk"

November 9, Wednesday, 7pm
146 West 26th Street, Manhattan (between 6th & 7th Avenues)

Carl Dix Speaks: "Stop & Frisk, the Oppression of Black People, and the Revolution We Need."

Carl Dix is the co-issuer, with Cornel West, of a Call for a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience to stop "Stop & Frisk," which he has called "illegal, racist and unconstitutional" and "a pipeline to racially targeted mass incarceration." He has characterized the way that Black and Latino youth are being caught up in the criminal "injustice" system and warehoused in prison as "a slow genocide that could become a fast one."

Join him at Revolution Books for a discussion of the fight to Stop "Stop & Frisk," the struggle to end the oppression of Black people and how all this relates to ending the horrors being inflicted on people here and around the world thru revolution.

 

[humble]

Re: STOP "Stop & Frisk"

We received this overnight about the NYPD assault on Occupy Wall Street this early morning:

Suddenly, Violently, and Brutally, NYPD Moves to Shut Down Occupy Wall Street

1 a.m., Tuesday, November 15, the NYPD moved in to shut down Occupy Wall Street. With helicopters overhead, the police moved into Zucotti Park, blocking off the surrounding area, blocks away. Reports on the Occupy Wall Street web site are that subway stations in the vicinity and the Brooklyn Bridge have been closed, and there is a massive police presence at Canal and Broadway. The livestream shows a huge police force trashing the tents and throwing people's possessions in large piles and in dumpsters. The NYPD destroyed the OWS Library, throwing 5,000 donated books in a dumpster. People are being arrested. The site reports that press helicopters were evicted from airspace over the park. People on the scene, five blocks away, are being pushed back by the police, pepper sprayed was used, and arrests made. The New York Times reported, "The police move came as organizers put out word on their Web site that they planned to `shut down Wall Street' with a demonstration on Thursday to commemorate the completion of two months of the beginning of the encampment, which has spurred similar demonstrations across the country."

People are planning a demonstration on Tuesday to protest this outrage.

 

[humble]

Re: STOP "Stop & Frisk"

Strategizing Session: Thursday, November 17 at 11:00 AM

As Carl Dix has pointed out, "We have started something very important with our campaign of civil disobedience to Stop "Stop & Frisk." We have added the much needed and too long missing ingredient of determined mass resistance to the struggle to force the authorities to back off this unconstitutional and illegitimate policy. Through standing up and saying `we aren't to put up with this anymore,' we are beginning to have an important impact."

We have "to continue to build on what we've gotten started here because we are in this to win it — We Are Out to Stop "Stop & Frisk." Doing this won't be easy, but it can be done if we work together, figure out the forms of struggle that will be necessary to do this and get on a mission to carry them out. That means getting down and figuring out how to expand our circles more broadly and widely. This will the purpose of a strategy session being called for the Stop Mass Incarceration Network around it's Stop "Stop & Frisk" campaign.

Strategy Session: Thursday, November 17th at 11 AM to 2 PM at The Riverside Church, 120th and Claremont Avenue. The room will be MLK 240. That is located on the 2nd Floor and can be accessed from Elevator #3 (the Security Desk will be able to direct all individuals there).

Please RSVP to stopmassincarceration@ymail.com by Wednesday late morning.

 

[humble]

Re: STOP "Stop & Frisk"

Thursday, November 17th from 11 am to 2 pm


Strategy Session at The Riverside Church, 120th and Claremont Avenue entrance. Take the #1 to either 116th Street or 125th Street. The meeting is being held at MLK Room 240.

From Carl Dix: "It will be very important for us to put our heads together, assess where we're at and what we've accomplished with our campaign of civil disobedience and map our a plan for broadening and deepening this fight to achieve our goal-- Stopping "Stop & Frisk." It is clear that we have made important accomplishments. Our responsibility now is to figure out how to build off the momentum we've created and tap into the longstanding desires and newly created hopes of many people that this illegal unconstitutional policy be ended."

 

[QueEx]

Re: STOP "Stop & Frisk"

Thursday, November 17th from 11 am to 2 pm


Strategy Session at The Riverside Church, 120th and Claremont Avenue entrance. Take the #1 to either 116th Street or 125th Street. The meeting is being held at MLK Room 240.

From Carl Dix: "It will be very important for us to put our heads together, assess where we're at and what we've accomplished with our campaign of civil disobedience and map our a plan for broadening and deepening this fight to achieve our goal-- Stopping "Stop & Frisk." It is clear that we have made important accomplishments. Our responsibility now is to figure out how to build off the momentum we've created and tap into the longstanding desires and newly created hopes of many people that this illegal unconstitutional policy be ended."

What, if any, overtures have local government made towards resolving the S & F concerns ???

What, if any, proposals have been made to local government towards a resolution ???

 

[humble]

Re: STOP "Stop & Frisk"

What, if any, overtures have local government made towards resolving the S & F concerns ???

What, if any, proposals have been made to local government towards a resolution ???

I don't know, but I support S & F mobilizing on this issue, so I am helping by spreading the message.

 

[humble]

Re: STOP "Stop & Frisk"

Join Us Today! Be One of the New Freedom Fighters/Riders


Saturday, November 19th, 1:00 PM
Stop "Stop & Frisk" Goes to Jamaica, Queens. Meet at King Park at 153rd Street and Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, Queens for opening rally. Take the E/J/Z to Jamaica Center/Archer-Parsons. We will then march to the 103rd Precinct at 91st Avenue and 168th Street, just above Jamaica Avenue, where we will conduct non-violent civil disobedience to stop 'stop & frisk'!
Monday, November 21st, 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Mass Followup Meeting in Jamaica, Queens. Meet at the Afrikan Poetry Theatre, 176-03 Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, NY 11432-5503, (718) 523-3312. Members of the Jamaica, Queens community and others are invited to get hooked up with the campaign.
The Afrikan Poetry Theatre is located on Jamaica Avenue at 176th Street. Take the E/F to Jamaica-179th Street, and walk away from Hillside Avenue towards Jamaica Avenue.
---
The "Stop Mass Incarceration: We're Better Than That!" Network is a project of the Alliance for Global Justice, a 501c3 tax-exempt organization. Tax-deductible contributions accepted, and checks should be made payable to the "Alliance for Global Justice, with "Mass Incarceration Network" in the memo line. Other forms of contributions also accepted.

"Stop Mass Incarceration: We're Better Than That!" Network
c/o P.O. Box 941 Knickerbocker Station
New York City, New York 10002-0900
Phone: 973-756-7666 or 866-841-9139 x2670 * Email: stopmassincarceration@ymail.com
Web: www.stopmassincarceration.tumblr.com

 

[humble]

Re: STOP "Stop & Frisk"

Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 8:30 AM
Rally at Brooklyn Criminal Court, 120 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn. A/C/F to Jay Street/Metrotech

Some of our New Freedom Fighters are going to Brooklyn Criminal Court on Thursday, December 1, 2011. We will rally briefly at 8:30 AM in front of the court house before we go in. Their court appointments are at 9:00/9:30 AM.



Friday, December 2nd at One Police Plaza

Join with the students in the Day of Student Action against 'Stop & Frisk.' Columbia University students will meet at 12:30 pm at the Low Steps to rally, and then go downtown.

At 3:00 pm, students will converge at Pace University at One Pace Plaza on Park Row next to the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. Then folks will march to One Police Plaza.
Bring Signs and Placards!
---
The "Stop Mass Incarceration: We're Better Than That!" Network is a project of the Alliance for Global Justice, a 501c3 tax-exempt organization. Tax-deductible contributions accepted, and checks should be made payable to the "Alliance for Global Justice, with "Mass Incarceration Network" in the memo line. Other forms of contributions also accepted.

"Stop Mass Incarceration: We're Better Than That!" Network
c/o P.O. Box 941 Knickerbocker Station
New York City, New York 10002-0900
Phone: 973-756-7666 or 866-841-9139 x2670 * Email: stopmassincarceration@ymail.com
Web: www.stopmassincarceration.tumblr.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The below article is from the November 14th issue of the Columbia Spectator.

December 2nd: Join with the students in the Day of Student Action against 'Stop & Frisk.' Columbia students will meet at 12:30 pm at the Low Steps to rally, and then go downtown. At 3:00 pm, students will converge at Pace University at One Pace Plaza on Park Row next to the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. Then folks will march to One Police Plaza.

Students organize in opposition to NYPD stop-and-frisk practices

Friday's panel of five spoke out against the practice, which critics say institutionalizes racism.

By Megan Kallstrom

Columbia Daily Spectator

Published November 14, 2011

Stephanie Mannheim

Students and alumni are putting their feet down on a controversial policy the New York Police Department has instated.

Campus activist groups Lucha and Students Against Mass Incarceration co-hosted an event on Friday to launch a campaign against the NYPD's policy of subjecting suspicious-looking individuals to searches on the street, a practice known as stop-and-frisk.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, 362,150 New Yorkers were stopped by the police in the first half of 2011 under this policy. 51 percent were black, 33 were Hispanic, and only 9 percent were white. 88 percent of them were innocent. Critics say the practice institutionalizes racism.

"This is a difficult topic for some people," said Lishan Amde, SEAS '12, who moderated a panel of speakers at the event. "We sit on this campus and we don't even see NYPD. … This is a conversation we have to have here."

The event, which drew 65 people to the Satow Room in Lerner, featured five panelists, all of whom opposed stop-and-frisk.

Some encouraged the use of civil disobedience to fight the law. Others urged attendees to self-reflect, like panelist Lewis Webb, a member of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that brings together different faiths interested in social justice.

"Politicians … go as far as we allow them," Webb said. "Acknowledge your prejudices, acknowledge your fears, and challenge yourselves."

Asere Bello, another panelist and a member of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, reminded attendees that stop-and-frisk is one of many racist policies that exist.

"Stop-and-frisk … is just the tip of the iceberg," said Bello, the former coordinator of the Men's Peer Education program at Columbia.

One attendee, Debra Sweet, director of the national anti-war group World Can't Wait, said that she hopes that an event like this will bridge the gap between Columbia students and the surrounding community, a divide several panelists described.

"I learned things from all five of the speakers and from several of the people I met there," Sweet said. "I hope that it has the effect of breaking down some of the barriers between the people who live on the Columbia campus or work there or study there and the people very close by who are affected by mass incarceration so terribly."

news@columbiaspectator.com

 

[QueEx]

Re: STOP "Stop & Frisk"


Is This the End of Stop and Frisk?
A ruling in favor of NYC residents who say their
rights are violated by the police practice is a start.

Stop-and-frisk protest in the Bronx, N.Y., in 2012. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)


The Root
By: Edward Wyckoff Williams
January 11, 2013

New York City's stop-and-frisk program has exploded by 600 percent under Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- garnering outrage from critics who believe that the practice forces black and Latino residents to live under a separate-and-unequal police state, subject to random violations of their Fourth Amendment constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure. Though originally intended to curb gun violence, the program has become carte blanche for New York Police Department officers to racially profile young males in predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods.

With the help of the New York Civil Liberties Union, city residents sued the NYPD -- seeking justice from those sworn to protect and defend them. In a case specifically focused on the Trespass Affidavit Program, or TAP, which allowed officers to stop and question residents both inside and outside private property (in residences dubbed "clean halls" buildings), plaintiffs argued that the NYPD "has a widespread practice of making unlawful stops on suspicion of trespass."

The lead plaintiff, Jaenean Ligon, filed suit after her 17-year-old son was stopped for no reason outside his apartment building during a trip to the store to purchase ketchup.

Yes, ketchup.

This week, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin issued an injunction prohibiting NYPD officers from engaging in stop and frisk outside buildings designated by TAP. The facts of the case reveal that patrolling officers never differentiated between potential criminals and citizens. Black and Latino residents were stopped on suspicion of being black and Latino alone.

In addition to Ligon, other plaintiffs included Charles Bradley, a 51-year-old African-American security guard, who was arrested while visiting his fiancee in the Bronx. Bradley was stopped, frisked, transported to a police station, strip-searched and fingerprinted -- all while being asked questions about his potential involvement with guns and drugs.

Abdullah Turner, 24, was arrested while waiting for a friend outside a Bronx apartment building. Turner questioned how he could possibly be "trespassing" if he was outside the building.

In her injunction order, Scheindlin writes,

"While it may be difficult to say where, precisely, to draw the line between constitutional and unconstitutional police encounters, such a line exists, and the NYPD has systematically crossed it."​

The New York Post, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. holdings include the Fox News cable network and the Wall Street Journal, published a scathing editorial in response to the ruling, asking, "How much blood will federal Judge Shira Scheindlin have on her hands when she finishes dismantling the most effective anti-gun-violence program in urban America?"

But the editorial writers missed the point entirely.

The NYCLU clu.org/content/nyclu-campaignpublished a report last year showing that <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">more young African-American men had been subjected to stop and frisk than there were black males living in the entire city</span>. Civil rights activists immediately called for a dismantling of the program, but Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly fiercely defended the practice, claiming that it was central to fighting gun violence in dangerous neighborhoods.


The statistics told a different story.

In 2011, only 10 percent of stops recorded were for "violent criminal activity." Furthermore, though African-American and Hispanic males made up 87 percent of all stop and frisks in the same year, only 1.8 percent of those frisks resulted in a weapon being found.

In fact, <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">the small number of whites stopped were twice as likely to be carrying a concealed weapon</span>. Essentially, in more than 98 percent of all stop and frisks of minority youths, no weapon was found -- and yet "guns" remain the justification for the practice.

Commissioner Kelly has tried to claim that the vast expansion of stop and frisks was responsible for the decline in New York City murder rates. <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">There is, in fact, no such correlation.</span>

• In 2002, when Kelly took office, 96,296 people were stopped and 587 homicides were reported.

• In 2011, the NYPD conducted 685,724 stops, and 532 homicides were reported. "There is no evidence that stop and frisk is lowering or suppressing the murder rate in New York City," read a statement issued by the NYCLU.

And New York Gov. Mario Cuomo agrees. In his State of the State address this week, he called for the Legislature to reform the marijuana-possession laws, which -- in conjunction with stop and frisk -- have been used in a racially disparate way to criminalize minority youths. "It's not fair, it's not right. It must end, and it must end now," Cuomo said.

From the apartment buildings of the Bronx to the street corners of Harlem, Brooklyn and beyond -- black and Hispanic boys tell an eerily similar story.

Zeandre Orr, a 14-year-old black teen from Brownsville in Brooklyn, told WNYC -- New York's NPR affiliate -- that he was stopped and frisked last year while on his way to McDonald's. And according to analysis conducted by WNYC, one in five of all stops conducted in 2011 were of teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18. When the relationship between police and young brown boys is established so early on, it breeds distrust and encourages apathy and discontent.

But Scheindlin's ruling may be the beginning of the end of stop and frisk. The TAP case precedes three other challenges currently pending in her court.

This could be the dawning of a new day in which young black boys can walk to a store for ketchup, Skittles and iced tea, or McDonald's and return safely home -- unencumbered by the suspicion of others or the harassment and violence that have become all too common.

Edward Wyckoff Williams is a contributing editor at The Root. He is a columnist and political analyst, appearing on Al-Jazeera, MSNBC, CBS Washington and national syndicated radio. Follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.

​

SOURCE: http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-n...s-say-stop-and-frisk-all-about-race-and-class

 

[Greed]

NYPD officer says he taunted boy, 13, during stop

NYPD officer says he taunted boy, 13, during stop
By TOM HAYS | Associated Press
36 mins ago

NEW YORK (AP) — A police officer testified Wednesday that he taunted a potential suspect — who turned out to be an innocent 13-year-old — after he detained the boy under the New York Police Department's disputed program of stopping, questioning and frisking people on city streets.

Called as a witness in a civil rights case in federal court in Manhattan, Officer Brian Dennis conceded that he had told a handcuffed Devin Almonor to stop "crying like a little girl."

Asked on cross-examination if he thought the comment was appropriate, Dennis responded, "Looking back, no."

The Center for Constitutional Rights brought the lawsuit on behalf of four black plaintiffs who claim they were stopped by police because of their race. The center alleges that many of the 5 million stops in the past decade, mostly of black and Hispanic men, were made without cause.

Police officials say stop and frisk is a legal crime-stopping tool that has helped drive crime down to record lows. New York City saw the fewest number of murders in 2012 since comparable record keeping in the 1960s, and other major crimes are down to record lows, too.

U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin, who is hearing the case, has said in earlier rulings that she is deeply concerned about the tactic. She has the power to order reforms to how it is used, which could bring major changes to the force and other departments.

In the second week of the trial, the plaintiffs' lawyers pressed Dennis and another officer, Jonathan Korabel, to explain why they stopped Almonor as he walked alone on a Harlem street in 2010. Dennis testified that while responding to 911 calls about a disorderly crowd in the area, he spotted the teen reach for his waistband as if he had a gun.

"I'm a kid. I'm going home. Leave me alone," Dennis recalled the boy saying.
Dennis testified that when he stopped the boy he assumed he was much older because he was tall for his age and out on the street without supervision at 10 p.m.

Korabel testified that he didn't recall Almonor's objections. He claimed the boy was jaywalking and when stopped, started "yelling and making a scene" and "fighting" when the patrolmen tried to frisk him.

"It was a lawful frisk," Korabel said.

The officers handcuffed Almonor and found no weapon. They took him to a stationhouse.

His father, a retired police officer, was asked to come get him. When the boy's parents arrived, they argued and tussled with police officers, lawyers for the plaintiffs said outside court.

On Wednesday, lawyers for the plaintiffs also introduced an NYPD memo dated March 5 mandating that suspicious behavior prompting certain stops "must be elaborated" — one of the remedies that had been demanded by critics of the practice.

In the past, officers were able to check off "furtive movements" on reports known as "250s" without further explanation. Now, "a description of that movement must be specified," the memo says.

http://news.yahoo.com/nypd-officer-says-taunted-boy-13-during-stop-180449408.html

 

[muckraker10021]

Stop-and-Frisk Trial: Cop's Secret Tape Reveals Boss Ordered
Him To Target Blacks Males Ages 14 to 21
Officer Pedro Serrano secretly taped a conversation with Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack, who told him
to specifically go after young black males for stop-and-frisk and also told him to focus on the Mott Haven section of the Bronx.

<img src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1295664.1363914805!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/frisk22n-1-web.jpg" width="500">
Officer Pedro Serrano says he was called a 'rat' for speaking out about the NYPD's
stop-and-frisk policy and recorded conversations he had with a superior about the procedure


by Robert Gearty & Corky Siemaszko

March 21, 2013

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...nd-frisk-young-blacks-males-article-1.1295665

A top Bronx cop was caught on tape telling an NYPD whistleblower to specifically target “male blacks 14 to 21” for stop-and-frisk because they commit crimes.

Stop “the right people, the right time, the right location,” Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack is heard saying on the recording.

“He meant blacks and Hispanics,” Officer Pedro Serrano, who made the secret recording, testified Thursday in Manhattan federal court.

“So what am I supposed to do: Stop every black and Hispanic?” Serrano was heard saying on the tape, which was recorded last month at the 40th Precinct in the Bronx.

RELATED: COP TESTIFIES HE WAS CALLED 'RAT' FOR PROTESTING STOP-AND-FRISK QUOTAS

McCormack said to focus on the Mott Haven section, where the problem “was robberies and grand larcenies.”

“I have no problem telling you this,” the inspector said on the tape. “Male blacks. And I told you at roll call, and I have no problem [to] tell you this, male blacks 14 to 21.”

During cross examination, City lawyer Brenda Cooke got Serrano to admit that McCormack never said he wanted Serrano to stop all blacks and Hispanics.

“Those specific words, no,” he told her.

Serrano’s tape and testimony were introduced as evidence in a class-action lawsuit against the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk tactic brought by four black New Yorkers who claim they were targeted because of their race.

Also, the first of several tapes surreptitiously made by Brooklyn cop Adrian Schoolcraft made its debut at the trial.

This one was recorded at a Nov. 1, 2008, roll call and on it Lt. Jean Delafuente is heard telling officers that making the arrest quota should be easy in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

“You’re working in Bed-Stuy, where everyone’s probably got a warrant,” he said.

Schoolcraft claims he was hauled off to a psych ward to discredit his allegations that the 81st Precinct pushed officers to fill arrest quotas.

Serrano told the court he taped McCormick because he had gotten poor performance reviews for failing to meet what he claims was the monthly quota of 20 summonses and five stops-and-frisk and wanted evidence to show he was being retaliated against.

For speaking out, the 43-year-old cop who joined the NYPD in 2004 testified earlier that he was smeared as a “rat” and ostracized by fellow officers.

Like Adhyl Polanco, the whistleblower officer who testified before him, Serrano said the quota system had the backing of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.

 

[muckraker10021]

Ray Kelly Wants Stop And Frisk To "Instill Fear" In Minorities,
Former NYPD Captain & N.Y. State Senator Testifies

<div id="kadoo_video_container_23951438-92b"><object height="300" width="534" id="video_detector_23951438-92b"><param value="http://divshare.com/flash/video_flash_detector.php?data=YTo2OntzOjU6ImFwaUlkIjtzOjE6IjQiO3M6NjoiZmlsZUlkIjtpOjIzOTUxNDM4O3M6NDoiY29kZSI7czoxMjoiMjM5NTE0MzgtOTJiIjtzOjY6InVzZXJJZCI7czo3OiIxMzE0NjMzIjtzOjQ6InRpbWUiO2k6MTM2NDk0NzUxNTtzOjEyOiJleHRlcm5hbENhbGwiO2k6MTt9&autoplay=default&id=23951438-92b" name="movie"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="wmode" value="opaque"></param><embed wmode="opaque" height="300" width="534" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" src="http://divshare.com/flash/video_flash_detector.php?data=YTo2OntzOjU6ImFwaUlkIjtzOjE6IjQiO3M6NjoiZmlsZUlkIjtpOjIzOTUxNDM4O3M6NDoiY29kZSI7czoxMjoiMjM5NTE0MzgtOTJiIjtzOjY6InVzZXJJZCI7czo3OiIxMzE0NjMzIjtzOjQ6InRpbWUiO2k6MTM2NDk0NzUxNTtzOjEyOiJleHRlcm5hbENhbGwiO2k6MTt9&autoplay=default&autoplay=default&id=23951438-92b"></embed></object></div>



By SEAN GARDINER and TAMER EL-GHOBASHY

April 1, 2013

Brooklyn State Senator Eric Adams testified at a federal trial Monday that Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told him the goal of stopping young black and Hispanic men was to "instill fear in them" so they would be less likely to carry guns.

At the trial challenging the constitutionality of the Police Department's stop-and-frisk policy, retired NYPD Captain Eric Adams, who served nearly 22 years in the NYPD, testified that the conversation with Mr. Kelly occurred during a July 2010 meeting in then-Gov. David Paterson's Manhattan office.

Mr. Adams said Mr. Kelly was attempting to persuade the governor to veto a bill barring the police department from maintaining an electronic database with the names and addresses of people stopped but not charged.

During an unrelated event Monday, Mr. Kelly said he "categorically and totally" denies making the comments—and he pointed to the lawmaker's long-running criticism of the NYPD.

The testimony came during the first of three class actions to go to trial challenging stop and frisk. Supporters say the tactic has led to a historic reduction in crime.

Mr. Adams testified that at the meeting—which was also attended by state Sen. Martin Golden and then-Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries—he expressed concerns that young black and Hispanic men were being disproportionately targeted by the NYPD's stop-and-frisk tactic.

In response, Mr. Kelly "stated that they targeted and focused on that group because he wanted to instill fear in them that every time they left home they could be targeted by police," Mr. Adams, who is also a candidate for Brooklyn borough president, said on the stand.

The senator also testified that Mr. Kelly said, "How else are we going to get rid of guns?"

"I was amazed that he was comfortable enough to say that in that setting," Mr. Adams testified. "I was shocked to hear that. I told him that was illegal and that was not what stop and frisk was supposed to be used for."

But Mr. Kelly on Monday denied the state senator's account.

"Anybody knowing Mr. Adams' history with this department and how often he's criticized it, that I would make that type of statement in front of three elected African-American officials, it just defies anyone's logic," he said.

Mr. Jeffries, who is now a congressman, said he recalled that Mr. Kelly was defending stop and frisk with a "deterrence theory" in which he said "he wanted individuals to think hard before carrying a weapon out in public because of the likelihood of being stopped and frisked at any time."

He said he "draws the same conclusions as Sen. Adams" based on his memory of the meeting with Mr. Kelly.

Mr. Golden, however, said he recalled a "very frank conversation" but said the comments Mr. Adams attributed to Mr. Kelly in court were "never made."

Mr. Golden, a retired New York City police officer who describes himself as a supporter of stop and frisk, said Mr. Kelly explained at the meeting that minorities were overwhelmingly stopped by police because many of the highest-crime areas in the city are in predominantly minority neighborhoods. He recalled Mr. Kelly saying that the percentages of minorities stopped "were in line with" the description of violent crime suspects.

"[Mr. Kelly] never indicated he did it to instill fear in anyone," Mr. Golden said.

Mr. Paterson could not be reached through a spokesman.

Mr. Adams attained the rank of captain despite being a longtime critic of the department, mainly through his leadership positions in a group called "100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care." Since his retirement from the NYPD in 2006, Mr. Adams has remained critical of some its practices.

In October 2011, Mr. Adams provided an affidavit attesting to the purported conversation with Mr. Kelly to the Center of Constitutional Rights as part of the organization's successful attempt to gain class-action status for its lawsuit against stop and frisk.

Later that year, as part of the city's defense in this case, Mr. Kelly submitted an affidavit saying, "at that meeting I did not, nor would I ever, state or suggest that the New York City Police Department targets young black and Latino men for stop and frisk activity." He also wrote he said nothing at that meeting "to indicate or imply that such activity is based on anything but reasonable suspicion."

During cross-examination on Monday, city attorney Heidi Grossman asked Mr. Adams if he had read Mr. Kelly's affidavit denying that he made the comments. But Manhattan federal court judge Shira Scheindlin cut off the questioning, saying the city was trying to introduce the testimony of Mr. Kelly through the "back door."

Mr. Kelly isn't testifying at the trial, which is seeking, among other measures, the installation of a court-appointed stop-and-frisk monitor. "If he'd like to come in here," the judge said, referring to Mr. Kelly, "he's welcome in this courtroom."

During his comments Monday, Mr. Kelly said it was a "joint decision" with the law department that he not testify. "We have made many, many people in this department available to testify at the trial," he said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323296504578396901595953048.html

 

[QueEx]

Bloomberg: Police stop minorities 'too little'
​

​

NEW YORK (AP) — Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday that police "disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little" as compared to murder suspects' descriptions, sparking criticism from activists and some politicians in a city that has been immersed in a debate about law enforcement and discrimination.


Some Have Argued

Speaking on his weekly WOR-AM radio appearance, Bloomberg echoed an argument he has made before: that the stops' demographics should be assessed against suspect descriptions, not the population as a whole. But coming a day after city lawmakers voted to create a police inspector general and new legal avenues for racial profiling claims, the mayor's remarks drew immediate pushback.

The measures' advocates accused the mayor of using "irresponsible rhetoric," some mayoral hopefuls chastised him and some City Council members said his remarks only emphasized the need for change.

"Our mayor's comments prove he just doesn't get it," said Councilman Robert Jackson, who co-chairs the council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus.​

The Mayor Counters

Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorgna said the critics were "fabricating outrage over an absolutely accurate comment."

"What they should be outraged by is the number of minorities who are being killed and that successful police efforts to save minority lives are being hampered," he added.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly noted separately Friday that more than 90% of people killed or shot in the city are black or Hispanic.​

The Tactic

The police tactic known as stop and frisk has become a high-profile political issue in the city, where stops have soared during Bloomberg's three terms. He and Kelly say the stops are an invaluable policing aid and have helped cut crime rates dramatically, while critics say the street stops humiliate many innocent people and are unfairly focused on minorities.

Those complaints have prompted a federal lawsuit over the stop and frisk practice and were part of the impetus for the City Council's vote Thursday. Bloomberg reiterated Friday that he'll veto the legislation, which he says will impede policing. They passed with enough votes to override a veto, but the mayor has noted that he plans to keep pressing his case with lawmakers.

About 5 million stops have been made during the past decade/b]. Eighty-seven% of those stopped in the last two years were black or Hispanic. Those groups comprise 54% of the city population.​

Bloomberg says that comparison isn't appropriate.

The racial breakdown of those stopped is "not a disproportionate percentage of those who witnesses and victims describe as committing the murder. In that case, incidentally, I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little," he said Friday on "The John Gambling Show."

More than 90% of suspects in killings in the last two years were described as black or Hispanic, according to city officials.

"The cops' job is to stop (people in) the groups fitting the description. It's society's job[/I] to make sure that no one group is disproportionately represented as potential perpetrators," Bloomberg said earlier in the show.



The group Communities United for Police Reform called Bloomberg's view misinformation, noting that most stops aren't spurred by suspect descriptions. Police department records of the stops also list such reasons as "furtive movements" or suspicious bulges in clothing.

"Mayor Bloomberg should cease with the irresponsible rhetoric and seek to work with the council on a constructive path forward," said Communities United for Police Reform spokeswoman Joo-Hyun Kang.

Public Advocate and mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio sent supporters an email rapping Bloomberg's remarks, while fellow contender and City Comptroller John Liu issued a statement calling them "insensitive, outrageous, and just plain weird." Rival and former City Comptroller Bill Thompson, who is black, termed Bloomberg's comments insulting and called on him to apologize.

"What he seems to indicate to the hundreds of thousands of people who have been unnecessarily stopped and frisked is, 'We're sorry we didn't stop more people,'" Thompson said.


Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

​

SOURCE

 

[QueEx]

Rev. Al Sharpton slams Mayor Bloomberg for saying stop-and-frisk stops too many whites

​

​

​

 

[Greed]

US judge says NYPD stop-frisk violates rights

US judge says NYPD stop-frisk violates rights
By COLLEEN LONG | Associated Press
48 mins ago

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Police Department deliberately violated the civil rights of tens of thousands of New Yorkers with its contentious stop-and-frisk policy, and an independent monitor is needed to oversee major changes, a federal judge ruled Monday in a stinging rebuke for what the mayor and police commissioner have defended as a life-saving, crime-fighting tool.

U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin said she was not putting an end to the policy, but rather was reforming it. She did not give many specifics on how that would work but instead named an independent monitor who would develop reforms to policies, training, supervision, monitoring and discipline. She also ordered that officers test out body-worn cameras in the police precinct where most stops occurred.

"The city's highest officials have turned a blind eye to the evidence that officers are conducting stops in a racially discriminatory manner," she wrote. "In their zeal to defend a policy that they believe to be effective, they have willfully ignored overwhelming proof that the policy of targeting 'the right people' is racially discriminatory."

For years, police brass had been warned that officers were violating rights, but they nevertheless maintained and escalated "policies and practices that predictably resulted in even more widespread Fourth Amendment violations," Scheindlin wrote in a lengthy opinion.

She also cited violations of the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

"Far too many people in New York City have been deprived of this basic freedom far too often," she said. "The NYPD's practice of making stops that lack individualized reasonable suspicion has been so pervasive and persistent as to become not only a part of the NYPD's standard operating procedure, but a fact of daily life in some New York City neighborhoods."

Four men sued the department in 2004, saying they were unfairly targeted because of they were minorities. Scheindlin issued her ruling after a 10-week bench trial, which included testimony from NYPD brass and a dozen people — 11 men and one woman — who said they were wrongly stopped because of their race.

She found that nine of the 19 stops discussed at the trial were unconstitutional, and an additional five stops included wrongful frisking.

Stop and frisk is a constitutional police tactic, but Scheindlin concluded that the plaintiffs had "readily established that the NYPD implements its policies regarding stop and frisk in a manner that intentionally discriminates based on race."

There have been about 5 million stops during the past decade, mostly black and Hispanic men. The judge said she determined at least 200,000 stops were made without reasonable suspicion, the necessary legal benchmark, lower than the standard of probable cause needed to justify an arrest.

The class-action lawsuit was the largest and most broad legal action against the policy at the nation's biggest police department, and it may have an effect on how other police departments make street stops, legal experts said.

Lawmakers have also sought to create an independent monitor and make it easier for people to sue the department if they feel their civil rights were violated. Those bills are awaiting an override vote after the mayor vetoed the legislation.

The court monitor would examine stop and frisk specifically and could compel changes. The inspector general envisioned in the legislation would look at other issues but could only make recommendations.

The city had no immediate response to the ruling, but officials planned an early afternoon news conference to discuss it.

City lawyers had argued the department does a good job policing itself with an internal affairs bureau, a civilian complaint board and quality assurance divisions.

The judge rejected their arguments. "The city and its highest officials believe that blacks and Hispanics should be stopped at the same rate as their proportion of the local criminal suspect population," she wrote. "But this reasoning is flawed because the stopped population is overwhelmingly innocent — not criminal."

Scheindlin appointed Peter L. Zimroth, the city's former lead attorney and previously a chief assistant district attorney, as the monitor. In both roles, Zimroth worked closely with the NYPD, the judge said. He did not respond to a call seeking comment.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, the nonprofit group that represented the plaintiffs, said in a statement: "Today is a victory for all New Yorkers. After more than 5 million stops conducted under the current administration, hundreds of thousands of them illegal and discriminatory, the NYPD has finally been held accountable. It is time for the city to stop denying the problem and work with the community to fix it."

http://news.yahoo.com/us-judge-says-nypd-stop-frisk-violates-rights-143810310.html

 

[MASTERBAKER]

NYPD’s stop-and-frisk blasted by judge, Mayor Bloomberg fights back Read more: htt

NYPD’s stop-and-frisk blasted by judge, Mayor Bloomberg fights back



Manhattan Federal Judge Shira Scheindlin, calling for immediate reforms including a test of body-cameras on cops, appointed former city corporation counsel Peter Zimroth as a monitor. Mayor Bloomberg says, "she ignored the real-world realities of crime," and showed "a disturbing disregard for our police officers."




Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/stop-frisk-violated-rights-judge-article-1.1424287#ixzz2brREfgFX

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://public.tableausoftware.com/javascripts/api/viz_v1.js"></script><div class="tableauPlaceholder" style="width:634px; height:510px;"><noscript><a href="#"><img alt=" " src="http://public.tableausoftware.com/static/images/72/72QGB9H2T/1_rss.png" style="border: none" /></a></noscript><object class="tableauViz" width="634" height="510" style="display:none;"><param name="host_url" value="http%3A%2F%2Fpublic.tableausoftware.com%2F" /><param name="path" value="shared/72QGB9H2T" /><param name="toolbar" value="yes" /><param name="static_image" value="http://public.tableausoftware.com/static/images/72/72QGB9H2T/1.png" /><param name="animate_transition" value="yes" /><param name="display_static_image" value="yes" /><param name="display_spinner" value="yes" /><param name="display_overlay" value="yes" /><param name="display_count" value="yes" /></object></div><div style="width:634px;height:22px;padding:0px 10px 0px 0px;color:black;font:normal 8pt verdana,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"><div style="float:right; padding-right:8px;"><a href="http://www.tableausoftware.com/public/about-tableau-products?ref=http://public.tableausoftware.com/shared/72QGB9H2T" target="_blank">Learn About Tableau</a></div></div>

[PDF]http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/750422-floyd-v-city-of-ny-remedial.html#document/p1[/PDF]

[PDF]http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/750424-floyd-v-city-of-ny-liability.html#document/p1[/PDF]

[PDF]http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/750426-2012-report-nyclu-0.html#document/p1[/PDF]

 

[QueEx]

Re: US judge says NYPD stop-frisk violates rights

Ending Racial Profiling​

Arbitrary, and Uncalled For​

By Eugene Robinson
August 20, 2013

WASHINGTON -- For all who believe in colorblind justice -- and want to see fewer African-American and Hispanic men caught up in the system -- there are two items of good news: a judge's ruling ordering changes in New York's "stop and frisk" policy and Attorney General Eric Holder's initiative to keep nonviolent drug offenders out of prison.

First, "stop and frisk." Mayor Michael Bloomberg is having a hissy fit over U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin's finding that the policy amounted to "indirect racial profiling." On his weekly radio show, the mayor wouldn't even say Scheindlin's name, calling her "some woman" who knows "absolutely zero" about policing. In an op-ed article for The Washington Post, Bloomberg went so far as to accuse Scheindlin of being "ideologically driven."


If and when Bloomberg calms down, I'd like to ask him the fundamental question posed -- not in these words, of course -- by Scheindlin's ruling: Would it kill you to stop and frisk some white guys, too?

Blacks and Hispanics make up about half of New York City's population but were targeted in 86 percent of the 532,911 "stops" last year under Bloomberg's policy, which encourages police to detain and search individuals if there is "reasonable suspicion" that the person "committed, is committing, or is about to commit" a crime. The reason most often cited for a stop is that the individual made "furtive" movements.

In nine out of 10 cases, the person is stopped -- and sometimes frisked -- but no evidence is found of any offense. Bloomberg argues that this kind of proactive policing actually prevents crime, and he credits "stop and frisk" for making New York the safest big city in the country.

I'm all for safe streets. I'm also aware that there is no consensus crediting "stop and frisk" with any impact on the crime rate, but I'm willing to accept the premise that an active police presence can deter criminals. My problem is that African-Americans and Hispanics are being singled out disproportionately for these arbitrary searches.

Bloomberg says this is because most violent crime occurs in black and Hispanic neighborhoods, with black and Hispanic victims. By all means, police should continue walking and cruising these beats. But the numbers indicate that African-Americans and Hispanics are being given too much "stop and frisk" scrutiny -- and that whites are being given too little.

According to an analysis by the New York Civil Liberties Union, blacks and Hispanics who are stopped are more likely than whites to be frisked. But just 2 percent of blacks and Hispanics who are frisked are discovered to be carrying weapons, while 4 percent of whites who are frisked have weapons. So if the aim is to find illegal guns, police should frisk more whites.

Why such fuss over a few minutes of inconvenience and indignity? Because blacks and Hispanics who come into contact with the criminal justice system for any reason are more likely to be arrested, charged and convicted than whites, and are likely to serve longer prison sentences.

Of more than 26,000 stops last year for alleged marijuana offenses, for example, 61 percent were of African-Americans and only 9 percent were of whites. But surveys show that whites are equally or more likely to be marijuana users. Police don't find white potheads because they're not looking for them.

We know that nationwide, according to federal figures, African-Americans are four times as likely as whites to be arrested, charged and imprisoned for minor drug offenses. Once young black and Hispanic men enter the criminal justice system, too often they become trapped in a loop of incarceration, release, unemployment and recidivism.

On the national level, Holder has taken direct aim at this vicious cycle with the announcement last week that low-level, nonviolent drug offenders will no longer face federal charges that carry long mandatory prison sentences.

Holder is giving new instructions to federal prosecutors and also supporting legislation that has received bipartisan support in the Senate, where some conservatives now see excessive prison terms as a waste of money.

"We need to ensure that incarceration is used to punish, to deter and to rehabilitate, not merely to warehouse and to forget," Holder said in a speech to the American Bar Association. President Obama is expected to make prison reform one of his priorities this fall.

Ending the presumption that African-American and Hispanic men are beyond redemption would be a powerful legacy for the first black president and the first black attorney general to leave behind.

eugenerobinson@washpost.com


(c) 2013, Washington Post Writers Group
​

SOURCE

 

[muckraker10021]

Racial Profiling Lives On


August 14, 2013

by Devon W. Carbado, Cheryl I. Harris and Kimberle Williams Crenshaw

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/opinion/racial-profiling-lives-on.html

THE historic ruling by Judge Shira A. Scheindlin that the stop-and-frisk practices of the New York Police Department violate the Constitution is being applauded as a major victory against unreasonable policing.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, meanwhile, is bitterly disappointed. “This is a very dangerous decision made by a judge who I think does not understand how policing works,” he said after the decision was handed down Monday.

But if unrestrained policing is, for Mr. Bloomberg, policing that works, it turns out that he can still have it. The ruling by Judge Scheindlin, of the Federal District Court in Manhattan, does nothing to disrupt the authority the Supreme Court has given police officers to target African-Americans and Latinos with little or no basis. Despite the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, the Supreme Court’s interpretation of that provision gives the police frighteningly wide discretion to follow, stop, question, frisk and employ excessive force against African-Americans and Latinos who have shown virtually no indication of wrongdoing.

That might sound hyperbolic. But consider these 10 actions a hypothetical Officer Bloomberg could still take against a hypothetical black man, Tony.

First, Officer Bloomberg can follow Tony without any hint that Tony had done anything wrong. The officer could ask: “What’s your name? What are you doing here? What have you got in the bag? May I see some identification?” The Supreme Court would rule that because the suspect was free to walk away, the Fourth Amendment doesn’t apply.

Officer Bloomberg could ask Tony for permission to search his person or his belongings. He would not be required to tell Tony that he has the right to refuse consent or walk away — the Supreme Court has held that people do not have a right to know that they can say no to an officer’s request to conduct a search.

Despite this week’s decision, Officer Bloomberg could stop and frisk Tony for weapons based on the officer’s “reasonable suspicion” — a standard the Supreme Court defines as more than a hunch but less than probable cause. Nothing in Judge Scheindlin’s opinion challenges this standard, one that is relatively easy for the police to meet.

For example, the Supreme Court has made clear that simply being in a “high crime” (which often means a predominantly black or Latino) area can be a factor in determining whether a person is armed and dangerous.

And suppose Tony ran away upon seeing Officer Bloomberg? The officer would be free to chase Tony, even if he had no reason to believe that Tony had violated any law. The Supreme Court has ruled that people who are chased and captured by the police are not “seized” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.

Moreover, Tony’s running away would be counted in determining reasonable suspicion, and if he fled in a “high crime” area, the standard would likely be met.

This all assumes Tony was on foot. If he was driving, Officer Bloomberg could easily stop and arrest him if he had probable cause that Tony had committed a traffic infraction, no matter how minor. Even if Officer Bloomberg specifically targeted Tony for arrest because he was black, the Fourth Amendment is not a bar, as long as probable cause exists.

If Tony were a Latino, Officer Bloomberg could argue that Tony “looked Mexican,” and therefore believed that Tony was undocumented. Under a 1975 Supreme Court decision that remains good law, apparent Mexican ancestry can be a factor in determining whether a person is undocumented. Lots of local police departments, not just those in Arizona, regularly take race into account in enforcing immigration laws.

Upon arrest, no matter how minor the charge, Officer Bloomberg could handcuff Tony, conduct a full search of his person and haul him off to the police station.

In each of the preceding examples, Officer Bloomberg could successfully argue that he did not impermissibly rely on race. In immigration enforcement, using race is permitted, and the Supreme Court has largely ignored the role of race in ordinary policing.

Finally, even if Tony, like Rodney G. King or Oscar Grant III, didn’t resist, but was beaten or shot and killed by Officer Bloomberg, the likelihood of winning an excessive-force claim would be difficult. Courts and jurors defer to police judgments, even if those judgments are inflected by racial stereotypes that inevitably render an unarmed black man more dangerous than an armed policeman.

None of this is to say that Judge Scheindlin’s ruling is unimportant. But she was ruling on a particular policy. The victory leaves in place a higher body of law, Supreme Court doctrine, that continues to expose African-Americans and Latinos to surveillance, harassment, violence — and death.



Devon W. Carbado and Cheryl I. Harris are law professors at the University of California, Los Angeles. Kimberlé W. Crenshaw is a law professor there and at Columbia University

 

[MASTERBAKER]

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—A small but vocal group of protesters Tuesday shouted down New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly at Brown University , leading administrators to cancel his lecture after he delivered only a few words.

The backlash to Mr. Kelly's appearance at the Taubman Center for Public Policy has been brewing for days—several student groups and Providence residents attempted to get the university to rescind Mr. Kelly's invitation, which was denied.
Enlarge Image

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly at a news conference in August AP

Mr. Kelly has been heralded for bringing crime in New York City to the lowest point in more than 50 years, but he has also been in the spotlight after a federal judge ruled that the NYPD's stop-and-frisk practice was unconstitutional because it disproportionately targets minorities.

Mr. Kelly was scheduled to give a short lecture followed by a question and answer session. The speech was intended to cover the NYPD's approach to policing and stop-and-frisk.

Students booed Mr. Kelly as he was introduced by Marion Orr, the director of the Taubman Center, and began loudly talking over him when he began to speak.
More

Video: Students Heckle Kelly
Judge Reins In Frisking By Police
Bloomberg Calls Ruling 'Dangerous'
Candidate for Brooklyn DA Wants Frisk Review

At one point, Mr. Kelly asked: "Are we ready to go forward?"

The protesting continued—some students shouted about rights being violated—and after about 30 minutes administrators canceled the lecture.

"The conduct of disruptive members of the audience is indefensible and an affront both to civil democratic society," Brown University President Christina Paxson said in a news release.

Protesters said that Mr. Kelly was a divisive figure and students should have been consulted about the event.

"They decided not to cancel the lecture, so we decided to cancel it for them," said Jenny Li, 21, an environmental studies student.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=097f841eecab" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[muckraker10021]

The institutionalized racism that is endemic within the leadership of the New York Police Department (NYPD) is illuminated by the testimony of NYPD Police Officer Adhyl Polanco who stars in the video below. Officer Palanco explains how the racist NYPD "stop & frisk" pogrom against Blacks & Hispanics works. He reached the 'tipping point' when he was ordered by his white supervisor to handcuff, a 13 year old boy walking home from school in Washington Heights N.Y. without having any articulable suspicion. Officer Palanco reported the details of the NYPD racist 'stop & frisk' program to the news media. Officer Palanco who is still a member of the NYPD was put on "modified duty" after revealing the quota system and the methodology used in 'stop & frisk'. For the last three years, with full pay and benefits, he reports to work 5 minutes a day to sign a sheet of paper and then he goes back home. This is how the NYPD and the police union treat truth tellers.

November 6th 2013

<iframe width="600" height="350" src="http://www.democracynow.org/embed/story/2013/11/6/nypd_officer_risks_his_job_to" frameborder="0"></iframe>

 

[SPECTRE1]

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/37o9adAW66s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[muckraker10021]

Driving While Black (DWB),
Drinking While Black on-your-own-property (DWB),
Bicycling While Black (BWB),
etc. etc. etc. etc.............

EXCLUSIVE:
Daily News analysis finds racial disparities in summons for minor violations in 'broken windows' policing

Summons for petty infractions are an element of 'broken windows' policing — and roughly 81% of the 7.3 million people hit with violations between 2001 and 2013 were black and Hispanic. Charges that the NYPD's execution of the policy is racially biased have intensified again since Eric Garner was killed by a chokehold July 17 2014 during an attempted arrest for selling loose cigarettes.

AUGUST 4, 2014

Every morning, hundreds of people line up at the city’s dingy summons courts, clutching pink tickets for such petty infractions as walking through the park after dark, bicycling on the sidewalk, drinking on the street and even spitting.

They are the human faces of the most prevalent but underscrutinized element of “broken windows” policing, a controversial crime-fighting strategy implemented in the 1990s that focuses on aggressively enforcing quality-of-life offenses to deter more serious ones. And these faces are overwhelmingly black and Hispanic men, a Daily News analysis of first-ever released summons statistics has found.

The number of summonses issued each year has soared since “broken windows” was implemented in the early 1990s — from 160,000 in 1993 to a peak of 648,638 in 2005. Although that number has fallen in recent years — to 431,217 last year and down an additional 17% so far this year — writing out violations still remains the most frequent activity of the New York City Police Department, far surpassing felony and misdemeanor arrests combined.

<span style="background-color:yellow;">Roughly 81% of the 7.3 million people hit with violations between 2001 and 2013 were black and Hispanic, according to a New York Civil Liberties Union calculation of available race data on summons forms.</span>


Read the rest HERE


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...parity-garner-article-1.1890567#ixzz3BqEvjDOZ

 

[SPECTRE1]

It looks like this U.S. Nazi program ran brazenly in front of the United Nations is being shut down. I don't have a problem with this police tactic, just apply it evenly against everybody.