Americans in New York City are worried that their new mayor Å“will be new window-dressing” and they cityâ„¢s police department will continue with its stop-and-frisk policies, says American activist Sara Flounders.
On Wednesday, Bill de Blasio was sworn in as the new mayor of New York City. As one of his campaign promises was to address the issue of stop-and-frisk tactics employed by the New York Police Department, many New Yorkers were hoping to see a change in the cityâ„¢s policies as de Blasioâ„¢s predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, supported such policing programs.
However, de Blasio disappointed people in New York even before he was sworn in when he selected William Bratton, who introduced Å“innovative and aggressive” policing policies in the past that are still being used, as the cityâ„¢s new police commissioner.
Å“The police institutions like the US military, like the prisons, they operate as huge institutions, continuing to preserve their own status, their own position through constant war on both the population here and the population around the world regardless of whoâ„¢s elected in the office and the promises that they make,” said Flounders, who is the co-director of the International Action Center, in phone interview with Press TV on Thursday.
Å“It is why many New Yorkers while theyâ„¢re hopeful, always in a new year, they remain skeptical that theyâ„¢ll be any real change in these racist policies,” she added.
The NYPDâ„¢s stop-and-frisk program, which mainly targets minorities, was ruled unconstitutional by US District Judge Shira Scheindlin in August.
Scheindlin described the tactics as a Å“policy of indirect racial profiling” that led the New York City police to routinely stop Å“blacks and Hispanics who would not have been stopped if they were white.”
She did not halt the program but named a federal court monitor to implement reforms.
However, the city immediately appealed her ruling and a federal appeals court in November halted Scheindlinâ„¢s order which called for changes to the NYPDâ„¢s stop-and-frisk program.
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Source: Press TV