The job of the police officers is to protect all citizens from any threat and help us to be safe on the streets. Stop and frisk is a practice that the New York City Police Department uses as a way to fight crime, however, stop and frisk is unjust and has resulted in racial discrimination by officers, as well as an abuse of power. Over the years many civilians have been stopped and frisked by the police, this irritates some people as they feel they are stopped purposely or for no reason. So can police frisking in some cases go too far?
Police are not able to put you down on the streets without reason, to stop someone on the streets the police have to see something suspicious about a crime that has been or is going to be committed. For example,
David Floyd was the lead plaintiff amongst others, Lalit Clarkson, Deon Dennis, and David Ourlicht in the 2013 New York City Police Department (NYPD) Stop and Frisk lawsuit. Floyd claimed that on February 27, 2008, he was walking on the path nearby to his house in the Bronx, New York. He encountered the basement tenant, also an African–American man, locked out of his apartment. Before they could open the door, three NYPD officers approached them and asked the two men what they were doing, told them to stop, and proceeded to frisk them. The officers claimed they had stopped Floyd because they believed Floyd was attempting a burglary.
Why officers should wear body cameras The federal government should provide body cameras for police officers to improve the way the officers and the public respond because of accountability, instill trust, and prevent violence. Police Officers wearing body cameras are now being held as a solution to preventing police conduct and enhancing police accountability. With these cameras, we will be more Intune with an officer's appropriate and inappropriate conduct. For example, these cameras will keep track of what the officer says or does when at the scene of the crime. Having these cameras will also speed up court proceedings and reducing the cost of court.
An officer has the right to stop an individual in public if he has a reasonable doubt of suspicion to temporary stop and frisks the individual. The statistic has shown that many officers have targeted the minorities in the stop and frisk. According to An Analysis of the NYPD 's stop and frisk policy in the context of the claim of racial bias by Andrew Gelman, Jeffrey Fagan, Alex Kiss " the number of arrests of each group in the previous year black were stopped 23% and Hispanics 39% more often than whites"(19). Minorities are stopped twice as often for violent crimes and a
In summary, "stop and frisk" should not be a law anymore because it does not help our community, in fact, it ruins it. The primary reason that shows why to stop and frisk ought not to exist as a law is because guiltless individuals are getting accused of unsafe individual activities. Nevertheless, people still believe that "stop and frisk" protect them and that people from different races are a danger to the society. What people are claiming is false claims because it is not proven by actual statistics. Some people still think that "stop and frisk" is a law that helps bring peace to the nations.
In this paper many will understand the concepts and the role of a stop and frisks. It will allow the readers to see the good and perhaps the bad of stop and frisk process. The research will also allow the readers to see how law enforcement can abuse power of authority in certain situation. Stop and frisk can be good and evil depending on the type of police officer at the time using his or her belief of the “Golden Rule” (meaning treating others with respect as everyone wants to be treated.) Stop and frisk is when police temporarily detain somebody and pat down their outer clothing when there are specific articulable facts leading a reasonable police officer to believe a person is armed and dangerous.
In conclusion, the idea of racial profiling and the issues on racism in today’s society calls attention to sustain peace and ethnic equality within communities all across the nation and around the world. It is important to acknowledge that the main solution to change the issues on racial profiling and racism is among the duties of government authorities, law enforcement officials, and the people of a nation. Everyone, of any race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or authority needs to understand that our voices and actions are capable of fixing the issues of racial injustice into a more fair environment to all people of color. Therefore, it is up to our knowledge and actions to help people understand that the solution to obtain racial equality
Have you ever seen a police officer wearing a body camera? If you did, you are one of a kind, we are still debating if the police should wear them. The video recordings from body cameras provide valuable evidence while raising high concerns of privacy. The recordings cameras provide are valuable when police and civilian witness differ. I believe that police officers should wear body cameras for two important reasons.
Although officers claim they aren’t as unprofessional as everyone says, many people beg to differ. A lot of people have evidence on how they were mistreated, and how the officers weren’t at all professional. Others have been killed and seriously injured, but the idea is still up in the air after several years. To protect themselves, and others around them, police officers should be forced to wear body cameras while they’re in a case or are talking to a suspect while on duty. Having to wear body cameras would be a positive way to help the authorities to see the truth better than just having to listen to the voice recorder.
Racial profiling is a very important issue that individuals in society face every day. This problem occurs in low income or poverty-stricken areas throughout cities and communities across the nation. Hundreds of anecdotal testimonials allege that law enforcement officials at all levels of government are infringing upon the constitutional rights and civil liberties of racial and ethnic minorities through a practice called “racial profiling” (Ward, 2002). So what is racial profiling? According to the National Institute of Justice, racial profiling by law enforcement is commonly defined as a practice that targets people for suspicion of crime based on their race, ethnicity, religion or national origin (National Institute of Justice, 2013).
There has been many controversial issues about the “stop-and-frisk” law. One side believes that it is racially profiling the communities of minorities and the other side believes that it is helping communities rise away from violence. There is a lot of history and background on stop-and-frisk and how it originated in the United States, especially in different places around the world. This law has been very controversial even within the law itself, so controversial states are debating on getting rid of it completely. Many politicians speak on this tactic in both positive and negative ways and the statistical growths and decreases on this topic.
Racial Profiling in America Racial profiling is defined as refers to the targeting of particular individuals by law enforcement authorities based not their behavior, but rather their personal characteristics ( The Leadership conference) . This is another mechanism for racial discrimination backed by the law. According to the The Leadership conference, racial discrimination is not solely on race, but based on religion, ethnicity and national origin.
The act of “Stop and Frisk” began in the early 1900’s when crime rates began to escalate in major cities such as New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Stop, question, and frisk, or SQF, is an urban policing measure that involves the large-scale deployment of officers in public spaces (e.g., sidewalks, alleys, the communal outdoor spaces of public housing) tasked with conducting frequent investigative stops (Huq, A. Z. (2017). In the articles provided, it is questioned whether New York’s stop and frisk policy is constitutional or not. I agree with the court's ruling, I believe Judge Scheindlin seemed too involved. “Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, the appeals court said, jeopardized "the appearance of partiality ... by a series of media interviews and public statements purporting to respond publicly to criticism of the District Court”
I think it is not okay to racially profile, but I also think it is okay in some cases because you are accusing someone for doing something by their appearance. Also There is no guarantee that the police will catch the criminal by racial profiling. There are lot of criminals that the police needs to catch and with racial profiling the police could kind a get the idea of who or what kind a person might commit a crime. It will help the police catch the criminal faster. Racial profiling can help the police in some ways and in some other ways it can not help the police and could just make it worser.
Stop and Frisk Stop and Frisk, the tactic that has been going on for only for short time, yet there seems to be racial tension already. But is this new information actually true or is it just good policing? According to Heather Mac Donald from the Manhattan Institute, says “what looks like racial profiling might just be good policing”. However according to Ranjana Natarajan from the Washington post “it’s clear that two issues need to be addressed: racial profiling and police use of excessive force.” Unfortunately we cannot have both ways.
Fruitvale station is movie that tackles the stereotypes of racism, police- brutality and poverty all in the matter of 85 minutes. Based on a true story, the movie follows its protagonist Oscar Grant III in his final hours leading up to his death. Grant was brutally shot by police officers in Hayward California on New Year’s Day 2009. Fruitvale station depict his everyday life and centers around him and his family and the effects situations such as poverty, racism and police brutality can have on certain demographics. It also shows that sometimes all three are intertwined.