Solutions to stop and frisk procedures - Research Paper Example

Solutions to stop and frisk procedures Introduction The practices of stop and frisk conducted by the NYPD are a serious concern over illegal stops, racial profiling and privacy rights. The reports on stop and frisk activity provided by the Department confirm what majority of people in communities across New York City have identified for long – that the police are stopping very many law-abiding people in New York every year, majority being Latino and black (Ccrjustice.org, (2012). An analysis carried out by the NYCLU discovered that many innocent people have been subjected to interrogations and police stops in the streets millions of times since 2002.

The analysis further revealed that Latino and black communities continue to be the vast target of these tactics. Almost nine out of ten of the stopped-and-frisked people in New York have been completely innocent. According to the New York Times report of 2009, almost 490,000 Latinos and blacks fell victims of the stop and frisk procedure, compared to only 53,000 whites in the same year (Nyclu.org, 2012). Police officials argue that the stop-and-frisk procedure is very important in their efforts to reduce crime and that through the procedure many have been forced to leave their guns at home, hence increased security in the nation.

They also claim that stop and frisks facilitate fighting future crimes because the detectives can capture suspects’ personal information including gender, social security number, name, address as well as collect physical description, which can then used to find the suspect or the possible matches. According to a report given by the Centre for Constitutional Rights, the procedure of stops and frisks led to more than 6,000 captured weapons apart from guns and about 34,000 arrests in the year 2009 (Goldberg, & Allen, 2012).

The Civil Liberties Union in New York filed a lawsuit to stop the NYPD from keeping any information concerning people arrested after a stop, who are later found not guilty of any criminal charges or who had their charges downgraded to infringement. According to the lawsuit, the state law requires the records of those people to be sealed. This is found in section 160.50 of the of the Criminal Procedure Law of New York that authorizes the sealing of criminal records of people charged with crimes when the unlawful charges are dismissed or the criminal trials are otherwise concluded in favor of the accused.

Challengers of the file add that the information composed after stop-and-frisk encounters may lead to surveillance and suspicion of future police suspicion that can last for an indefinite period (Goldberg & Allen, 2012). Goldberg & Allen (2012) further note that a lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court that deals with the repeated vengeance against an experienced police officer after the disclosure of the use of stop and frisk encounters, summonses and unlawful quota systems for arrests in the 42nd Precinct in the Bronx.

This file upholds that administrators in the 42nd Precinct have come up with a detailed quota system that contains regular computer reports that are color-coded. These reports are used to track conformity with quotas. Officers who do not meet the quotas are underlined using red ink on the reports and subjected to a wide range of revenge. When officer Craig Mathews recognized that the quota system was abusive and illegal, he continually reported it to the precinct’s commanding officers. In retaliation however, he has been given poor evaluations, punitive assignments, in addition to separating from his wife.

Moreover, he has been denied over-time and leave, and subjected to constant threats and harassments. In August 2010, David Paterson, who was the New York Governor by then, signed legislation that increased the police officers’ protections under the anti-quota statute of the state to ban retribution against officers who fail to meet quotas for arrests, summonses, stop-and-frisk encounters and tickets. Formerly, the quota law was restricted to the covering of traffic violations. The signed legislation limited the information that may be maintained in the stop and frisk database (Nyclu.org, 2012).

Governor Patterson, in his speech when signing the bill, argued that individuals who are innocently accused of a crime should not suffer any undesirable consequences or stigma by virtue of criminal accusation or arrest that is not certain or convicted. He referred to this as a principle that is compatible with the assumption of innocence, which is deeply embedded in our sense of justice. Additionally, a criminal defense lawyer should be contacted in one’s area of residence in case of an accusation of a crime or arrest resulting from a stop and frisk.

A well-informed attorney can enlighten you of your rights as indicated by the law and assist in mitigating any possible consequences (Goldberg & Allen, 2012). The New York Police Department has been modifying the way it supervises and trains officers that carry out stop and frisk searches in a controversial manner. The NYPD commissioner expressed his hope that the changes adopted in the stop and frisk procedures would increase public confidence. Other suggested improvements included changes to officer monitoring, training, supervision, accountability and transparency.

Suggestions on the ban of racial profiling have also been raised (Guardian.co.uk, 2012). Conclusion Apparently, the stop and frisk procedure conducted by NYPD receives mixed reactions ranging from interference with an individual’s privacy to racial profiling and illegal stops. However, the department considers it as a way of addressing and combating criminal cases in the nation by using the devices to capture an individual’s information, which is then used to detect any suspects or to match the detected personal information.

On the other hand, this is not the case because millions of people end up being innocently charged for criminal offences. Therefore, various mechanisms have been developed to come up with solutions that address the issue of stop and frisk procedure as discussed earlier. References Ccrjustice.org, (2012). NYPD's Stop and Frisk Practice: Unfair and Unjust. Retrieved from http://www.ccrjustice.org/stopandfrisk Goldberg & Allen, (2012). NYC Police “Stop and Frisk” Minorities at Higher Rates. Retrieved from http://www.

goldbergandallen.com/Articles/NYC-Police-Stop-and-Frisk-Minorities-at-Higher-Rates.shtml Guardian.co.uk, (2012). NYPD reveals stop-and-frisk changes as challenge goes ahead in New York court. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/17/nypd-reveals-stop-frisk-changes Nyclu.org, (2012). Stop-and-Frisk Campaign: About the Issue. Retrieved from http://www.nyclu.org/issues/racial-justice/stop-and-frisk-practices