Essay On PS

The Stop Question and Frisk program has been the subject of major scrutiny over the past few years in New York City. The program, although quite vague, is a policy that allows New York City police officers to stop, question and frisk any pedestrian they deem questionable. However, this program has fueled anger in minority groups over racial profiling, as the bulk of pedestrians who have been stopped were of the African American or Latin communities. The newly elected Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio has decided to reform the policy in response to many reports of civil rights abuses. It had previously been reported that officers would abuse police powers by stopping pedestrians and frisking them without probable or questionable cause. The program has also only proven partially successful since approximately eleven percent of those who have been checked were in illegal possession of an item or substance, creating a debate of the current demand of the program. While this may seem to be only a partial success, others have viewed this as a step preventing crime anyhow.
A federal mandates were produced last August by the federal court, to inform New York’s police department of the unconstitutional program. However, the policy of nullification has been used as a new strategy to keep the streets safer in New York. Mayor Bill de Blasio had sided with the policy being unconstitutional and decided to reform the stop and frisk bill as well as introduce a new racial profiling bill to promote the protection of civil rights. On the other hand, the former mayor, Michael Bloomberg, however, has argued that the bill was a great tactic for tackling the cities violent problems, and may call for devolution of the bill.
In a press conference, in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, De Blasio announced his call to action of his plans to reform the New York City police department. He has installed a new commissioner and plans to specifically modify the head of departments as well as bill’s that may target minority groups or abuse powers.
Many New York citizens who felt victimized by the stop and frisk program had felt victimized by the fact that they had been stopped because of the color their skin decided to take the city to court. Many are calling for concurrent powers, giving the federal government more control but allowing less racial profiling and disallowing any unconstitutional laws that would affect civil rights. Despite one case that had been publicly thrown out, was due to the fact that there was no evidence of any mistreatment or reason that they were searched because of the color of their skin. Current city lawyers who are defending the plaintiffs over the program are currently asking the courts to put the cases on hold while new mayor is starting his reform, and their clients can decide on how to settle the case.
The previous mayor, Bloomberg, as well as his police commissioner are defending their stance of the stop-and-frisk program as they believe it is an essential tool that has lowered crime rates throughout the city. The former mayors view of the program is that it allows police officers stop and search individuals on the street based on "reasonable suspicion" and that officers will certainly follow their duties and policies in a reasonable manner. However this has been deemed too vague and gives officers leeway to abuse their implied powers.