Analysis Sheds Light On NYPD's Stop-And-Frisk Practice
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A New York Civil Liberties Union analysis of police department data has found that as the number of police stops has risen dramatically, the number of weapons recovered has stayed practically the same.
The analysis of 2011 stop, question and frisk numbers was made public Tuesday. It worked from the department's database and included the neighborhoods most often stopped, and the number of weapons recovered.
WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reports
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Last year, more than 685,000 people were stopped by police, mostly black and Hispanic men. There were 780 guns recovered. In 2003, the department recovered 604 and stopped 160,851 people.
EXTRA: Read The NYCLU's Report Here
Donna Lieberman, of the NYCLU, said the detailed analysis makes it clear that under the Bloomberg administration there is a two-tier system of policing.
"There's the kinder, gentler policing that we see on the Upper East Side or Park Slope and the up-against-the-wall policing we see in Brownsville and Harlem," Lieberman said.
Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito said the policy is creating frustration and anger in communities of color, as well as a lack of trust.
"These ineffective policies, that unfortunately have become a rite of passage of young African-American and Latino men in our communities, is unacceptable," Mark-Viverito said.
Civil liberties officials claim the number of stop-and-frisks of minorities amounts to racial profiling and say the practice must stop. Police and city officials say it is not profiling.
In the wake of the study, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is calling for the NYPD to rethink the controversial practice.
He is calling on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to issue an executive order to dramatically reduce the number of unwarranted stop-and-frisks in New York City.
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De Blasio said the practice is now being overused, adding, "It's being used in many instances in arbitrary and counter-productive fashion."
De Blasio has suggested Bloomberg force the NYPD to analyze its stop-and-frisk procedure under its CompStat system.
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