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NYPD Defends Soaring Stop and Frisk Numbers
By
John Del Signore
Published May 13, 2009
Modified May 13, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 13, 2009
Modified May 13, 2009
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After the NYCLU called attention to a record-breaking number of NYPD stop and frisks for the first three months of 2009, the department's spokesman is out defending the stats [pdf], which reveal—shocker—a continued emphasis on targeting blacks and Latinos. And at the going rate, the NYPD will stop and frisk 626,767 suspects in 2009, which would shatter the current record of 531,159, set in 2008. But police spokesman Paul J. Browne reassures the Times, "In a city where police make 400,000 arrests annually based on the higher standard of probable cause, 500,000 stops annually is not unreasonable...We believe that there is a relationship between stops and crime prevention, although you can't document crimes that did not occur as a result of stops involving suspicious activity." Ah, he has us with that koan, which is sort of like the sound of one hand cuffing. Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr. also has the NYPD's back, telling reporters, "Stop and frisks have been going up for the past three years and the reason is because they work." The Constitution's nice and quaint, but whatever works, right?
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stop & frisk
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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