The NYPD has dialed back its controversial “stop-and-frisk” policy during the spring months, reports Gothamist.
After reaching a record high of 203,500 cases in the first quarter of 2012, the number has dropped to 133,934 cases for the second quarter. “We’re encouraged to see that the number of street stops dropped over the year’s second quarter, but the stop-and-frisk data that was leaked to the press doesn’t say anything about the number of innocent New Yorkers who were stopped during that period,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman, said in a statement.
According to a source, the decrease is a direct result of the public outrage surrounding the policy, which many feel unfairly targets Black and Latino men.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly have both stood behind “stop-and-frisk” calling for the city to put more emphasis on gun violence. Bloomberg and Kelly’s views were substantiated by Natasha Christopher, whose 15-year-old son, Akeal, was shot and killed while walking down the street in Brooklyn. “My son is gone because of an illegal gun on the street,” she told the New York Post. “If they had frisked the person who killed my son, it would have been one less gun on the streets. I’m for it.”
Of the more than 130,000 people stopped, 54 percent were Black, 32 percent were Hispanic 10 percent were White, and 3 percent were Asian. Police seized a total of 1,769 weapons.
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Photo: AP
