Big thanks to Upworthy for sharing this heartbreaking video of what is believed to be the first audio recording of NYPD stop-and-frisk procedures, including one cop telling the guy that he’s going to arrest him because he’s a “mutt” and threatening to punch him in the face and break his arm.
“We’re gonna go out there and violate some rights” is a phrase one officer (whose identity is obscured) says is used to pump the cops up to go out and get some “250s” (Stop, Question, and Frisk). And cops don’t have the option not to do 250s, as there is a quota and often payback for the cops who choose to do less 250s.
One quote by retired NYPD officer Julio Valentin, now of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, explains that of the 600,000 people who were stopped, only 1% were carrying weapons, and one of the prime means of selling this program is the claim that they are getting guns and other weapons off the street.
And this problem will NOT get better as long as there are quotes of how many 250s cops have to get and how many arrests are made.
What do you think is the solution for ending this form of racial profiling?
I’ve seen this before, and I cannot help but feel like this is incredibly one-sided. Stop-and-frisk is a bad policy, no question, but the whole “us and them” mentality is NOT limited to the police department. Where I live, in the SF Bay area, many communities have developed a mentality that says “the police are the enemy and everything they do is wrong.” This is unhelpful, especially because these tend to be high-crime areas that badly need police protection. Yet the onus is placed squarely on the police to improve the situation without any discussion about how the communities may… Read more »
wow my tablet autocorrects badly:
It should be “I’m now face to face with…”
and “reforming the police alone will not improve…”
It ain’t fair- this was driven home the first time one evening as a gang of laborers from one of my sites were leaving for the day and the foreman suggested they check “for blades”- box knives, utility knives…. Take them out of your pockets and stash them in your lunch pail, back pack or tool bag…. This knife, a shovel & a broom is what they make a living with At the time, as I have for the past 40 years, I had a pocket knife on me- actually 2; One an EDC (every day carry) of some tactical… Read more »
I also want to add that this video from Vanguard on Current TV shows more ways in which Stop and Frisk in NYC is damaging our young men of color in this country:
http://current.com/shows/vanguard/93558816_how-nypds-stop-and-frisk-policy-ensnares-600-000-a-year-scenes-from-vanguard.htm
I observe that the NYPD is a bizarre police force on several levels. Start with the entrance salary- about $35K a year…. That is something like $ 135/day… I would start with raising salaries….. Who is going to live off of this and for whom this is a job worth perusing? Now wonder why young cops in this DIY very quickly take on a them & us mentality. The dichotomy, I’ve seen; the idea that it is a very difficult & stressful job against the reality of so many officers running vinyl siding businesses, studying for law school and retiring… Read more »