Dear New Yorker,
Last week, I sent a letter to Police Commissioner Kelly expressing concern about the New York Police Department's (NYPD) stop-and-frisk practices and suggesting ways in which the policy can be significantly improved.
While there's no disputing that stop-and-frisk is an effective crime fighting tool, I'm concerned about the impact that the department's stop-and-frisk practices are having, particularly on communities of color.
To help address these concerns and improve police-community relations, I will be supporting legislation requiring the NYPD to report to the City Council on the departmental audits of stop-and-frisk activities.
I have also called for the following changes to the department's stop-and-frisk practices:
- The NYPD should ensure that all officers, regardless of rank, receive ongoing training in "cultural sensitivity" and are familiar with the department's written racial profiling policy.
- The NYPD should comprehensively review data to create an "early warning system" to flag officers and precincts where out-of-the-ordinary stop-and-frisk activity is taking place.
- Absent "extraordinary circumstances," the NYPD should consider an improper stop-and-frisk a serious matter, and violations shouldn't be punished with a "slap on the wrist."
You can read more about these recommendations in the Wall Street Journal article pasted below. Otherwise, I hope to be in touch again soon with additional news and updates on this issue.
Thanks and have a wonderful weekend.
Sincerely,
Christine C. Quinn
Speaker
NYC Council
Quinn Hits Police Over Stop Policy
By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn on Tuesday issued her sharpest criticism of how the New York Police Department has carried out its stop-and-frisk policy, saying the tactic has sometimes "sown distrust" in minority communities.
In a letter to Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Ms. Quinn acknowledged the practice--in which police stop people on the street and occasionally frisk them--has helped drive down crime rates. But she said police were falling short in several areas and outlined a plan to change the policy.
"I am concerned that a rift has developed between the police department and New Yorkers--particularly New Yorkers of color," Ms. Quinn's letter said. "Much of this division is centered around stop, question and frisk practices."
In her letter, Ms. Quinn, a potential 2013 mayoral candidate, defended stop-and-frisk as a "viable and effective crime fighting tool"--as she has in the past. And she noted that a 51% decrease in murders during the past decade could be attributed, at least in part, to stop-and-frisk.
Still, Ms Quinn wrote, "young men of color consistently report" that they are repeatedly stopped, and some of those encounters result in accusations of excessive force. Allegations that officers are pressured to meet stop-and-frisk quotas are also "troubling," and the department needs to ensure quotas play "no role," Ms. Quinn wrote.
In the letter, the speaker calls for improvements in police training, supervision, discipline, monitoring and transparency.
Paul Browne, the NYPD's chief spokesman, said: "Commissioner Kelly is happy to review suggestions from Speaker Quinn, especially in this instance, where she recognizes the dramatic murder reduction of the last decade and the role police strategies played in it."
A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg echoed Mr. Browne's statement and said the administration would review Ms. Quinn's proposals.
Since Mr. Bloomberg took office a decade ago, the number of stop-and-frisks has surged, rising to 601,055 in 2010 from 97,296 in 2002.
The year-end statistics for 2011 aren't yet available, but officials expect the numbers to exceed 600,000.
The vast majority of the people involved in stop-and-frisk are black and Latino. In 2010, for example, 54% of the people stopped were black, 33% were Latino and 9% were white, records show. The overwhelming majority of these stops didn't lead to an arrest.
Mr. Browne said the data also show that stops "comport by race with victim crime reports."
"Too many people are being stopped and frisked and the way they're talked to, the way they're handled, there is not the courtesy, professionalism and respect," said Councilman Robert Jackson of Manhattan. "We don't even believe that all of it is being documented."
Mr. Bloomberg has long credited stop-and-frisk with keeping guns off the streets and preventing crime. In October, the mayor said police officers generally do a "good job" carrying out this policy. And he dismissed critics who said the NYPD could keep bringing crime down without using the tactic.
Ms. Quinn wrote Tuesday that she would support legislation requiring the NYPD report to the council on the departmental audits of stop-and-frisk activities.
Ms. Quinn also made the following recommendations:
. The department should ensure that all officers, regardless of rank, receive on-going training in "cultural sensitivity" and are familiar with the department's written racial profiling policy.
. The NYPD should comprehensively review data to create an "early warning system" to flag officers and precincts where out-of-the-ordinary stop-and-frisk activity is taking place.
. "Absent extraordinary circumstances," the NYPD should consider an improper stop-and-frisk a serious matter, and violations shouldn't be punished with a "slap on the wrist."
The speaker's letter generated praise from some civic organizations, including the New York Civil Liberties Union, and a number of elected officials.
"We need reform because a system that promotes or permits discriminatory justice benefits no one, including the police officers who work hard every day in our communities," said Council Member Jumaane Williams of Brooklyn.