New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said that a federal judge’s decision to reform the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy could mean a return to the days of violent crime, which has plummeted since Bloomberg took office 12 years ago.
Bloomberg warned that Monday’s decision by US District Judge
Shira Scheindlin would jeopardize New York’s tenure as
“America’s safest big city.” He said he would appeal the
ruling, but he likely won’t be in office to see the results as
his third and final term ends this year.
“This is a dangerous decision made by a judge who I think does
not understand how policing works and what is compliant with the
US Constitution as determined by the Supreme Court,”
Bloomberg said. “I worry for my kids, and I worry for your
kids. I worry for you and I worry for me. Crime can come back any
time the criminals think they can get away with things.”
He warned that the ruling could see a return to the days of
mayhem and rampant crime in the 1990s before his predecessor,
Mayor Rudy Giuliani, took office. Murders in the city hit an
all-time high in 1990 at 2,245, but by 2012 the murder rate had
fallen to an all-time low of 418.
Judge Scheindlin ruled that police have intentionally and
systematically violated the civil rights of tens of thousands of
New Yorkers by mainly targeting black and Hispanic
men.
The judge has also appointed an outside independent monitor to
oversee major changes in police tactics, a reform in policies and
training and supervision of officers. She has also ordered a
pilot program to test body cameras, which will be worn by police
in the areas of the city where most checks occurred.
“The city officials have turned a blind eye to the evidence
that officers are conducting stops in a racially discriminatory
manner,” Scheindlin said. In their zeal to defend a policy
that they believe to be effective, they have willfully ignored
overwhelming proof that the policy of targeting the right
people’ is racially discriminatory,” she
said.
Scheindlin said she wasn’t putting an end to the practice, but
merely trying to reform the way the NYPD carried it out.
But Mayor Bloomberg emphasized that the police have focused their
efforts at keeping black and Hispanic minorities safe, as they
are disproportionally the victims as well as the perpetrators of
crime.
He said the police had done what they had to do to keep the city
safe, and that they were using the one tool that has helped drive
down crime rates, which was within the Constitution and backed up
by the courts.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly also called the allegations of
racial profiling “recklessly untrue” and noted that the
NYPD is “the most ethnically and racially diverse police
department in the world.”
Judge Scheindlin refused to hear evidence of crime rates in New
York, which made things more difficult for the city’s defense
team.
NYPD crime statistics based on race for 2012 show that there were
significantly more black and Hispanic suspects, arrestees and
victims of crime across all areas of crime.
The stop-and-frisk policy has been used by police for decades,
but recorded stops hit an all-time high of 684,330 in 2011, and
most of those stopped were either black or Hispanic.
About half those stopped by police are only questioned, while
others have their bags searched and in some cases officers carry
out a full pat-down body search. Only 10 percent of all stops
result in arrest, and a weapon is found only a fraction of the
time.
In her lengthy ruling, Judge Scheindlin said that at least
200,000 stops were in her opinion made without sufficient grounds
for suspicion, and that rank and file officers were often
pressurized by their superiors to make stops, while police
commanders ignored evidence that stops were repeatedly being made
against the wrong people.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2004, by four ethnic minority
men and evolved into a class-action case. Judge Scheindlin
presided over a 10-week trial that included evidence from 12
people who had said they had been stopped only because of their
race. Of 19 stops discussed in court, she found that nine were
unlawful and that a further five involved wrongful frisking.
One witness, Nicholas Peart, wept as he described a frightening
encounter with the police, and said that he thought the ruling
would be a “tremendous step forward.”
“I felt that it restores a sense of trust, our voices do count
towards something greater,” said Peart.
The NYPD, which also gave evidence during the hearing, has not
yet officially commented on the ruling.
Sal Albanese, a Democratic candidate for New York Mayor, said
that the NYPD has already been moving in this direction by
training officers to reduce unnecessary stops and “this ruling
will accelerate that process.”
Another Democratic candidate, Bill De Blasio, said that the
policy had no real effect on driving down crime rates and has
merely pushed the police and the communities they serve further
apart.
Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis said that he was
disappointed with the decision. “Stop-and-frisk is an example
of proactive police work that stops crime and keeps guns off the
streets; dropping crime rates have proven that,” he said.
Republished from: RT