JOIN STOP AND FRISK MARCH

IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES ENDORSE  JUNE 17th "SILENT MARCH AGAINST RACIAL PROFILING" -THOUSANDS TO PROTEST NYPD "STOP-AND-FRISK" POLICY ON FATHER'S DAY-

Immigrant community groups and activists announced their support and urged communities throughout the city to join the upcoming June 17th "End Stop-and-Frisk: Silent March Against Racial Profiling."

Groups discussed the ramifications of discriminatory, humiliating and ineffective racial profiling policies like the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy that affect hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers each year. Leaders urged New Yorkers to turn out on Father's Day, June 17th, and stand up for civil rights and a dignified life for our children.

"New Yorkers were stopped and frisked by police nearly 700,000 times last year - almost all of those targeted were innocent of any crime, and almost all of them were Black or Latino. It's just impossible to say stop-and-frisk is not racial profiling, and continuation of this practice not only violates the department ban against racial profiling but raises civil rights questions. It also poses a potential financial liability to the City, as evidenced by rising claims against the NYPD and the federal judge's ruling allowing class-action status in a stop-and-frisk lawsuit. It's time to abolish stop-and-frisk." - City Comptroller John C. Liu.

"With the activation of Secure Communities in New York State, speaking out against NYPD's out-of-control stop-and-frisk practices has become more important than ever for our immigrant communities. An arrest for small-time marijuana possession, which often comes as a result of a stop by police, can now land immigrant New Yorkers in deportation proceedings. I am proud to be partaking in this historic mobilization to show the impact of stop-and-frisk on diverse communities across our city. In particular, I am committed to highlighting the Latino voice in this debate by participating in the Latino Table and will also mobilize locally in my district.  I look forward to seeing thousands upon thousands of New Yorkers hitting the streets on June 17th." - Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito.

"The American Buddhist Confederation wants to end stop-and-frisk, and hopes to make our community more peaceful." - Refa Shi, President of the American Buddhist Confederation.

"NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy criminalizes communities of color. The Arab and Muslim communities of New York know all too well what it feels like to be targeted and spied on based on ethnicity and religion. We join communities across New York City to demand dignity, respect and fair treatment for our youth and families." - Linda Sarsour, Director of the Arab American Association of New York.

"APALA stands together against the police policy of stop-and-frisk.  It's racial profiling pure and simple. This isn't good policing.  This policy creates nothing but animosity and distrust between those who are sworn to protect and the community of color the policy is directed towards. The resources of the NYPD are better served trying to create a climate of trust instead of harassment of its citizens.  We are not criminals by our skin color. Stop-and-frisk treats us as though we are. APALA along with our religious and civil rights organizations, labor unions, and elected officials will participate in the silent march being held on June 17.  We hope that the mayor and the police commissioner understand how the wrong the policy is and that changing it goes a long way in making NYC a better place to live in." - Lenny Moy, President of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance - NY Chapter.

"Racial profiling affects us all. AIA-NY joins in condemnation of stop-and-frisk." - Ranju Batra, President of Association of Indians in America - New York.

"The data are clear: NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy undeniably targets young people of color in New York City. The broad coalition of groups that have organized to stop this racially discriminatory practice are leading the way in New York and around the nation in advocating for community policing that is more humane, just and effective." - Nisha Agarwal, Deputy Director for the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD).

"We strongly support efforts to ensure the NYPD is more accountable to the communities it serves and is transparent in its practices.  New York's communities of color are consistently subjected to unnecessary harassment, and this will help ensure they are able to live in dignity and feel safe in their own neighborhoods." - Seema Agnani, Executive Director of Chhaya CDC.

"It is a common misconception that Asian-Americans are silent on the issue of racially-biased policing.  In fact, the opposite is true.  CAAAV has been organizing around unjust policing practices since our founding 26 years ago. We believe whenever there is selective enforcement of policies, it violates the rights of all. We are proud to be endorsing and participating in this march on June 17th, Father's Day." - Helena Wong, Executive Director of the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAAV).

"Stop-and-frisk abuses and other discriminatory NYPD practices exemplify racial profiling at its worst, targeting low-income communities of color throughout New York City and undermining public safety and public trust. Asian-Americans are uniting with all New Yorkers to denounce discriminatory and abusive policing, and call for an end to the NYPD's racial profiling and passage of the Community Safety Act by the City Council." - Joo-Hyun Kang, Communities United for Police Reform.

"When it comes to communities of color, the NYPD has a culture that operates on a presumption of guilt until proven innocent. The 115th precinct in Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst, which consists on many South Asian, Latino and other immigrant communities, has the third highest number of stop-and-frisks in the city. We have youth members who have been stopped and frisked in their own neighborhoods over 60 or 80 times. So much so that they have actually lost count." - Monami Maulik, Executive Director of Desis Rising Up & Moving (DRUM).

"The Family Health Project supports an immediate end to the stop-and-frisk process which negatively affects our youth." - Suki Ports, Executive Director of the Family Health Project.

"As an American citizen of Asian heritage, specifically an Asian-American of Japanese descent, I experienced my constitutional rights being taken away when I was placed in the concentration camp of Amache/Granada in Colorado for three years and, prior to that, incarcerated for four months at the Merced Assembly Center. Therefore, I know that we have to be extremely mindful of what the authorities do." - Aileen Yamaguchi, President of the New York Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League.

"Stop-and-frisk challenges our right to feel safe and free in our democracy, unfairly targeting people of color and our youth.  We must fight back against unjust and discriminatory policies and seek alternatives to keep our families and communities safe." - Lucia Gomez Jimenez, Executive Director of La Fuente.

"In a time when immigrants and communities of color are already losing trust with law enforcement, the stop-and-frisk policy further erodes trust with - and targets - our vulnerable communities.  Stop-and-frisk must simply be stopped." - S.J. Jung, President of the MinKwon Center for Community Action.

"The Muslim Consultative Network (MCN) stands in solidarity with its African-American and Latino brothers and sisters against the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policing tactics! The NYPD has had a long standing history of bad policing in black and Latino communities.  In the last decade under the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly, the NYPD has crossed the line with stop-and-frisk searches and religious profiling of Muslim-Americans. This kind of policing has become a widespread problem that is racially and religiously discriminatory under the ostensible excuse that the practice is necessary in fighting crime. On June 17th, MCN will join partner organizations from across the city for a historic silent march to symbolically say, enough is enough Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly! End racial and religious profiling!" - Debbie Almontaser, Board Chair of the Muslim Consultative Network.

"The recent activation of Secure Communities, a federal program which allows information sharing between precinct and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, further complicates the issue of profiling and routine stops for the immigrant community. Immigrants, especially young Latino workers, who we represent, now run the risk of ending up in deportation proceedings simply because they got taken into a precinct after a stop-and-frisk.  Stop-and-frisk alongside Secure Communities unfairly targets immigrant workers and creates an atmosphere of fear and mistrust between the NYPD and immigrant communities." - Valeria Treves, Executive Director of New Immigrant Community Empowerment.

"Immigrant communities are feeling the heat of NYPD policies and practices that are too often driven by racial and ethnic profiling. Whether these practices play out in the name of public safety, immigration enforcement or counterterrorism efforts, they are ineffective and unfair.  And now that Secure Communities is active in New York, the consequences of such targeting include deportation and the breakup of families. Public safety and national security are possible only when all communities feel secure and protected, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, or immigration status." - Chung-Wha Hong, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition. 

"Racial profiling is counterproductive, fuels negative stereotypes, and harms police community relations." - Elizabeth R. OuYang, President of Organization of Chinese Americans - NY.

"We as humans, as Muslims, as South Asians, as Pakistani and as Americans will not stand for injustice, will not stand for racial profiling." - Ahsan Chughtai, President of the Pakistan Community Center.

"As the president of the Indonesian Christian Community in the New York metro area (PERWAKRIN), I have seen that the program of stop-and-frisk has failed and resulted in no effect in securing homeland security but has aggravated and degraded most good citizens of New York. Many police officers I have spoken with do not feel comfortable implementing such a program. PERWAKRIN demands the NYPD to cease the stop-and-frisk idea." - Soeko Prasetyo, President of Perwakrin.

"The Philippine Forum stands with the community in wanting to end stop-and-frisk. We are against any racist policies that could contribute to making our communities feel unsafe, including anti-immigrant laws." - Melanie Dulfo, Social Worker and Community Organizer for Philippine Forum.

"We represent a diverse immigrant workforce in New York City, and our members know that policies like stop-and-frisk unfairly target people of color. We stand in solidarity with everyone who will be marching on Father's Day to say no to racial profiling and discrimination." - Christina Baal, Deputy Political Director of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

"yKAN fully supports all civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Stop-and-frisk policy is a violation of the 4th Amendment, which requires probable cause for searches and not merely arbitrary subjective 'suspicion,' and has statistically targeted minorities disproportionately." - Edmund Song, President of Young Korean American Network (yKAN).

"As a community organization that works closely with multi-ethnic and immigrant youth, a population that in many ways defines who we are as New Yorkers, we know firsthand that trust holds communities together, and without it they fall apart. Stopping hundreds of thousands of random people on the street because they look suspicious isn't something that should ever happen in America.  It runs counter to fundamental American values and the reasons why our country was founded.  It's Benjamin Franklin who warned us early that those who give up liberty for temporary safety, deserve neither and will lose both.  Stop-and-frisk is created by policy makers who are out of touch with relationship between law enforcement and the community. Law enforcement is ineffective without the trust and support of the community, and the stop-and-frisk policy dismantles that trust.  It also transforms neutral or even positive attitudes our youth have towards local law enforcement into antagonistic and combative ones. Stop-and-frisk is counterproductive and creates a long lasting and dangerous precedent. Stop-and-frisk is bad for our youth, bad for law enforcement who are trying to work with the community, bad for reducing crime, and bad for New York City." - John Park, Director of Community Development and Operations of the YWCA of Queens.

The following organizations have expressed support for the June 17th "End Stop-and-Frisk: Silent March Against Racial Profiling": American Buddhist Confederation; APICHA Community Health Center; Arab American Association of New York; Asian American Federation; Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance; Association of Indians in America - New York Chapter; Bangladesh League of America New York; BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir; Center for Popular Democracy (CPD); Chhaya CDC; Chinatown Partnership Youth Initiatives; Civil Aid Services; Coalition for Asian American Children and Families; Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAAV); Communities United for Police Reform; Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY); Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM); Eastern Vietnam Cambodia Laos Chinese Descent Association; Family Health Project; Federation of Indians Associations; Hotel Chinese Association of New York; Islamic Council of North America; Japanese American Citizens League - New York Chapter; Korean American Association of Greater New York; La Fuente; Latino Justice PRLDEF; Minkwon Center for Community Action; Muslim Consultative Network; New Immigrant Community Empowerment; New York Chinese Cultural Center; New York Immigration Coalition; Organization of Chinese Americans - NY (OCA-NY); Pakistan Community Center; Perwakrin; Philippine Forum / Bayanihan Community Center; Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union; Sikh Coalition; South Asian Youth Action (SAYA); Southeast Queens County Young Democrats; Turning Point for Women and Families; United Fujianese of America; United Hindu Cultural Council of USA of North America, Inc.; USA Fuzhou San Shan Association; Young Korean American Network (yKAN); YWCA of Queens.

New Yorkers were stopped and frisked by police nearly 700,000 times last year.  87% percent of those stopped were either Black or Latino. According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, nine out of ten people stopped were totally innocent and 99.9 percent of the time, no gun was retrieved.

Stop-and-frisk is not only a civil rights issue, it is also a financial one. Stop-and-frisk also poses a potential financial liability to the City. Claim settlements and judgments against the NYPD have risen from $74.1 million in Fiscal Year 2002 to $186.3 million in Fiscal Year 2011.

The June 17th "End Stop-and-Frisk: Silent March Against Racial Profiling" is co-organized by SEIU 1199, the NAACP, and the National Action Network - with support from community groups across the city. For more information, please visit www.silentmarchnyc.org