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NYPD Stop and Frisks Reach Record High in 2010
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 23, 2011
Modified Feb 23, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 23, 2011
Modified Feb 23, 2011
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Break out the bubbly, precinct captains; the NYPD has broken its previous record for the number of stop and frisks in a single year! NYPD officers made 601,055 street stops in 2010, the first time that number has topped the 600K mark, according to public records obtained by the AP. It's an increase of 4.3% from the previous record of 575,304, set in 2009—a year that saw an uptick of 8% from the short-lived 2008 record of 531,159. Our back of the envelope calculations suggest that by now the NYPD has probably done at least one stop and frisk for every NYC resident. Of course, some are frisked more than others!
Last year, in an excellent article about how the stop and frisk policy has impacted Brownsville, the Times asked resident Jonathan Guity, a 27-year-old legal assistant with no criminal record, how many times he's been stopped. He replied, "Honestly, I’d say 30 to 40 times. I’m serious." Last year, black and Latino men accounted for 85% of the stops. Of all those arrested, 14% were given summonses or arrested, and the remaining 86% were questioned, but not charged or issued a summons, the Daily News reports.
The NYPD maintains that the number of stops continues to increase because "there is a relationship between stops and crime prevention." The department also insists stop and frisks have had "a significant impact" on reducing crime, but last year crime rates for murders and shootings increased 22.8% and 16.3%, respectively. "Unfortunately, the pattern of stopping innocent New Yorkers continues," the NYCLU's Donna Lieberman tells the News. "The pattern of stopping enormous numbers of overwhelmingly African-American and Latino men continues."
The NYCLU distributes a handy wallet card through its website telling you what to do if you are stopped, arrested, or injured in your encounter with the police, and how to file a complaint. Among the suggestions:
- What you say to the police is always important. What you say can and will be used against you, and it can give the police an excuse to arrest you, especially if you bad-mouth a police officer.
- You don’t have to consent to a search of yourself, your car or your house. If you do consent to a search, it can affect your rights later in court. If the police say they have a search warrant, ask to see it. If they don’t, use the phrase “I do not consent to this search.”
- Do not interfere with or obstruct the police—you can be arrested for it.
Tagged
nyclu
nypd
stop and 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
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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