Thaddeus Howze comments on the NYPD’s “Stop and Frisk” policy that violates minorities’ civil rights.
Stoppin’ and Friskin’, what a wonderful phrase. Stoppin’ and friskin’, ain’t no passing craze. It means no worries for the rest of our days, its a problem free, philosophy, just Stoppin’ aJamnd Friskin’.
This downright folksy and carefree state of mind toward the infringement on the civil rights of New Yorkers by the New York police department who has raised the hackles of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Minorities and people of color have been 75% of the people who are stopped under this “proactive” policing policy, said to reduce violence by targeting anyone who looks like they could be a potential suspect.
Yes, you should infer this means: the minority threat. According to Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, without such a proactive police presence, infringing on the rights of so-called innocents, “people will die.” The police admit that 90% of the time they are incorrect, but do not feel the creation of a police state mentality is the result of such aggressive activity.
“Help us to put the human face, help the public to understand the human toll and the indignities that are caused by this police abuse,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman.
But she added,
“This is is not about getting involved in any conflict with the police. This is not about interfering. This is about doing your part as a citizen, as a bystander, to document what’s going on, to shine light on what’s going on, and not to get in the way.”
Yes, all of this. I was waiting for you to get to that poem, though…
These are not checkpoints, so you don’t have the option to avoid them. These are not reported as being active so citizens have the option of not going out or making a different choice about avoiding them. These people are not operating vehicles so they are not a threat by being potentially high and driving under the influence. These are random street searches of individuals. Citizens who have been chosen to be stopped, randomly (or in this case, not quite so randomly) searched on the street, even though the police have no “probable cause” to do so, and the Citizen… Read more »
I bet the majority of stop and frisks is also targeted against men, but that seems to be downplayed.
Ah man, this is my city! When I heard about how the NYPD was doing this, I was so pissed off. They’ve really not got the best record with minorities, but it’d been getting better! And now this. I expect crap like this from Arizona, but not from my NYC.
My son looks like a minority and I guess you could say that he is in that his mother is of Mexican origin, but he looks more African- American. We live and have lived in an upper middle class suburb of Chicago and he’s been stopped more then once simply because of the way he looks. BTW, sagging is and was never acceptable. He’s now in his mid 20’s and is a manager at a local establishment and the funny thing is, the police that used to stop him, now know him personally. I once asked him how he felt… Read more »
“Just a thought that came to me ….. Another article here at GMP was about how women view men as potential rapists/abusers simply because they’re men …. That’s okay but suspected criminals on the street in crime ridden neighborhoods?” A couple of things, first I don’t always agree with articles posted at GMP. One of the awesome things about this magazine is that it offers such hugely diverse opinions about things. Second, no I don’t think that assuming random men on the street are rapists just because they are men is okay. I’ve said as much. I comprehend why women… Read more »
Heather, why Arizona and not New York? Maybe you have a solution to this, to the crime, the murders, the gang activity in these areas? Is it any difference then “check points” for drunk drivers over the holidays? They do that every year in my area …. if it keeps drunk drivers off the road, I have no problem with it.
Arizona did the whole, stop and check if you look like you’re not a U.S. citizen thing a few years ago, that’s why. That’s what I was referencing. The difference between this and ‘check points’ is that everyone gets stopped at a drunk driver check point and checked to see if they appear drunk. A person can, actually, appear drunk…and smell drunk, etc. A person does not appear to be a criminal. And here’s the thing, I lived in New York for a few years, and it’s pretty dang safe in comparison to a lot of other cities. Not to… Read more »