Stop and Frisk

[ZeldaFreak701]

Ahhhh yes, the well known and oft implemented police tactic. In case you don't read the news, the New York Police department may have to implement new changes to their stop and frisk policy because the majority of the people they stop are innocent and are overwhelmingly minorities.

If you're not familiar with the specifics, stop and frisk is when a cop thinks you may be about to or have committed a crime and conducts a light pat down of your outer clothing to look for weapons. It is minimally intrusive and has been upheld by the Supreme Court as constitutional.

Now while that sounds pretty boring, it has in fact brought down crime substantially in New York (lower at least to what it has been). But at what cost? Well at the idea that the NYPD is racially profiling for all these stops. What do you think?

[Luer]

All they want to do is feel woman's asses.

[Nor]

I think it was helpful enough, but perhaps a bit too intrusive for some.

I dont see a problem with making changes to kind of wean off it.

[JimmyTheCaterpillar]

Just stop the ones with mustaches. That might help.

[GoryBlizzard]

Stop and frisk is an essential part of every cop's toolbox, just like their guns. No matter who the mayor, the governor or the president is, it's a tool that's here to stay. Any cop that has a reasonable suspicion that someone they observe has engaged in criminal activity should stop, question and frisk that person--after which they may have gathered crucial information or uncovered a dangerous weapon. That's just part of being a good cop, but the fact that so many people stopped are minorities and well over 80% of them are completely innocent of any wrongdoing should speak volumes about the poor judgment many cops have. Yes, stop and frisk is frequently used to racially profile and I have personally observed the vast majority of volatile encounters related to it in predominantly minority neighborhoods, as opposed to more affluent ones like Park Slope or the Upper West Side.

The reason the NYPD is in such hot water over this is because so many cops have been trained to believe that race constitutes a reasonable suspicion for a stop. It doesn't. Like I said, stop and frisk will and should never go away. What needs to change is the way cops are trained and its implementation. Our cops have been trained by many supervisors and commanders who are poorly trained themselves. Plus, policing needs to be less of a numbers game. The lack of integrity in many of the CompStat numbers are troubling. The numbers should be whatever they are, for the sake of honesty and transparency, and no cop at any level should feel the need to downgrade them just to make themselves look better. The murder stats are trustworthy though, because no one can hide the bodies.

The End Discriminatory Profiling Act and NYPD Oversight Act have already been passed after being overridden by Bloomberg's vetoes, and that's a good step in the right direction.

Still...many problems remain.

Over the Bloomberg and Ray Kelly years, I feel as though NYC has lost most of the diversity that made it so great. The city is much more minority-unfriendly than it once was, and there's a far higher concentration of upper middle class and wealthy people essentially pricing out the poor and lower middle class. Although NYC has often been attractive to outsiders to a degree, it's even more so now, and many of these privileged newcomers to NYC just sicken me. Right now, in light of de Blasio's election, while I have some more hope than I had before, I ultimately care about the results, which may take years to bear fruit.

It sucks how much more expensive things have gotten here in NYC now--from transportation, to rent, and tons of other stuff. The rate at which these things are going up appear to be outpacing the rate of inflation. I've thought about this issue for quite a bit, and decided that I want the old NYC back. By that, I mean high crime, graffiti-filled subways, fewer people wanting to move here, more squeegee men on the roads and drivers scared of property theft. Am I crazy? Not so much when you think about it. Upsides include: cheaper everything, a lower cost of living, rich transplants running away...you get the idea. Somehow, I think we'd all be paying a lot less if this city were far less attractive to rich outsiders. Safety (or at least the illusion of it--there definitely isn't 100% integrity in the NYPD's CompStat numbers) is the underpinning of out of control prices citywide. This downward crime spiral can't continue forever anyway.

Lastly, I might also add that I have been stopped and frisked myself by poorly trained cops every now and then. One time, it even happened at work in a compound the NYPD partially shares with us. Like all cops are, I am on NYC's municipal payroll, although I am a servant of their parks system and not their police department. I was in full uniform at the end of my work day when one time, a cop decided to stop, question and frisk me out of nowhere, when no reasonable suspicion existed of me having engaged in (or about to engage in) any criminal activity. I think he just needed at least one 250 for the day (250 being short for UF-250, which is the piece of paperwork cops use to gather all your information after they stop, question and frisk you).

Ugh, reform to stop and frisk policy can't take effect soon enough.

[Entice]

They better not be grabbin my dick and takin my weed

[Evark]

At 11/21/13 04:12 PM, ZeldaFreak701 wrote: If you're not familiar with the specifics, stop and frisk is when a cop thinks you may be about to or have committed a crime and conducts a light pat down of your outer clothing to look for weapons. It is minimally intrusive and has been upheld by the Supreme Court as constitutional.

"Minimally intrusive?!" When was the last time you were chill with some rando deciding that you needed to be groped on the streets under the guise of searching for weapons? The Supreme Court case ruling you are referring to is from the '60s, it doesn't justify the stop and frisk policy of the NYC police department, but it allows for a 'Terry frisk', which is to say that if the police officer has 'specific and articulable' reasons for suspecting a person of having committed a crime he can frisk the person. Stop and frisk merely pays lip-service to 'specific and articulable' justification for the frisks.

I think the NYC stop and frisk policy is completely unreasonable and absolutely outrageous. I can only hope the Supreme Court takes it up in order to end the practice completely.

[supergandhi64]

f*ck this gay & oppressive totalitarian regime lol

--supergandhi64

[Sense-Offender]

You, there. You're acting awfully brown. Hands on the wall.

[Magical-Zorse]

At 11/21/13 05:30 PM, Entice wrote: They better not be grabbin my dick and takin my weed

yeah, I strap my weed around my dick so if they're gropin then ima get busted those pigs better lay off

[Entice]

At 11/21/13 07:56 PM, Magical-Zorse wrote: yeah, I strap my weed around my dick so if they're gropin then ima get busted those pigs better lay off

Our anuses are the last safe haven... for now

[ohbombuh]

At 11/21/13 05:57 PM, Evark wrote: some rando

By this, did you mean to say "an officer of the law?"

[JRob]

At 11/21/13 08:05 PM, Entice wrote:

At 11/21/13 07:56 PM, Magical-Zorse wrote: yeah, I strap my weed around my dick so if they're gropin then ima get busted those pigs better lay off

Our anuses are the last safe haven... for now

Nope. Bend over.

[Ocelot]

I think a more effective procedure for them to implement would be "stop and grope".

I would like that very much.

[T3XT]

Race might be more of a coincidental factor than a direct target. Unfortunately a large number of poverty disproportionally affects African-Americans, which in turn affects crime rates, which in turn affects police activity.

I could go into the verrrry long story as to why many minorities are stuck in the ghetto, but I'll skip the large historical-economic timeline and say this: It isn't because they're any different from the rest of us human beings, it's just that history hasn't been too kind to them.

[Entice]

At 11/21/13 11:19 PM, T3XT wrote: I could go into the verrrry long story as to why many minorities are stuck in the ghetto, but I'll skip the large historical-economic timeline and say this: It isn't because they're any different from the rest of us human beings, it's just that history hasn't been too kind to them.

Nah it's obviously because of gangster rap and not having enough neanderthal DNA

[AxTekk]

At 11/21/13 05:30 PM, Entice wrote: They better not be grabbin my dick and takin my weed

Where I used to be in London loads of guys get stop n' searched, often just for weed and shit. I honestly do not think any sensible person feels more people carrying weed need to be arrested, and personally I think the more people with weed on the streets, actually the better.

What annoys me is often when fights break out, police will just chill around the corner so they don't have to get involved. Idk, obviously not all cops, but too many cops are shitty cops.

[ohbombuh]

At 11/21/13 11:19 PM, T3XT wrote: I could go into the verrrry long story as to why many minorities are stuck in the ghetto, but I'll skip the large historical-economic timeline and say this: It isn't because they're any different from the rest of us human beings, it's just that history hasn't been too kind to them.

So asians and Jews should be doing pretty badly too, right?

[Conal]

It happens to people in the UK, the youth are very angry about it.

It's never happened to me though.

[Ron-Geno]

Seems like blacks and hispanics are targeted alot.
So as a black man, here are things you can do to reduce your chances of being stopped and frisked:

1) Don't walk outside. Always drive.
2) Wear polos and fancy clothes.
3) Talk proper english.
4) Be white.

[Urban-Champion]

Racial Profiling has existed for years in our culture, what's so newsworthy about it?

[Evark]

At 11/21/13 08:37 PM, ohbombuh wrote:

At 11/21/13 05:57 PM, Evark wrote: some rando

By this, did you mean to say "an officer of the law?"

They are synonymous in this case, unless you've met the officer of the law previously. In short answer: yes; but no.

[supergandhi64]

ironic that racial profiling is still a thing even though the president is black lol

--supergandhi64

[Boomstick]

I liked to be touched by men who want to question what I'm doing.

[Cyberdevil]

At 11/21/13 04:12 PM, ZeldaFreak701 wrote: What do you think?

I think they should just let crime run rampant.

[Makakaov]

Well people smuggling shit aren't just going that they need it down for their privacy, are they?

[Tribal]

Why are people even getting upset about being patted down lightly for the safety of everyone? Surely there isn't some black man who stands around places where this happens all the time to count how many white people have it happen to them, and how many of other ethnicities do to be able to complain about it. The way I see it, those who wish for this to stop value the safety of everyone (which has been proven to increase because of this) a lot less than the potential racial stereotyping of people by those who deploy the technique. Are there seriously those who would want to end the stop and frisk method, turning it into "go and risk"? Wow.

Also, if someone actually standing around to find out how many people of which group are targeted for the "stop and frisk" more than which other group isn't a thing, then who keeps tabs on it, how do they do so and why? Surely releasing these statistics offers only to rile weak-minded people up about this and to the detriment of this system. Fucking hell, America!

[ZeldaFreak701]

At 11/22/13 01:28 PM, Tribal wrote: Why are people even getting upset about being patted down lightly for the safety of everyone? Surely there isn't some black man who stands around places where this happens all the time to count how many white people have it happen to them, a

nd how many of other ethnicities do to be able to complain about it. The way I see it, those who wish for this to stop value the safety of everyone (which has been proven to increase because of this) a lot less than the potential racial stereotyping of people by those who deploy the technique. Are there seriously those who would want to end the stop and frisk method, turning it into "go and risk"? Wow.

Wow, I never saw it put that bluntly before, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree. We grudgingly tolerate airport security because we don't want to be put in danger again, I don't see stop and frisk as anything different.

Alright the real reason I'm responding is because I like the Basket Case level icon. These Halloween themed level icons are so cute. My favorite is the Boo!

[Entice]

At 11/22/13 01:28 PM, Tribal wrote: Why are people even getting upset about being patted down lightly for the safety of everyone?

Cause I don't want a fucking cop to search me, why should they?

[AxTekk]

At 11/22/13 01:28 PM, Tribal wrote: Fucking hell, America!

I honestly think no-one would have a problem with stop and frisk if the police were more polite and respectful. As it is, a lot of black and Hispanic dudes feel like they just get harassed without probable cause. I think if police were just like "Sorry sir, there's been x and y so I'm going to have to ask to z" no one would give a shit.