Stop-and-Frisk policy is not an effective model of urban policing especially the way it is being implemented in New York City. Reports show that only 6% of those frisked lead to an arrest and 1.2% turn up a weapon. The effectiveness of the policy in identifying criminal elements is questionable given that most of the people stopped to be frisked are innocent citizens. The video on NYPD's Stop-and-Frisk clearly shows that this strategy is nothing more than racial profiling based on an unproven premise that most victims of crime report that their attackers were men of color (NYPD's Stop-and-Frisk: Racial Profiling or 'Proactive Policing N.P). The fact that very few criminals have been arrested through this system means that it is ineffective in averting crime.
Additionally, there is no clear criterion that the police use to identify those whom they suspect as criminals. It is based on their personal judgment especially how a person looks making it unprofessional and unfounded. Michelle Alexander in her book The New Jim Crow argues that there is a new racial castle system in the United States that has led to locking up many young black men in the justice system (Alexander p.12). She gives a personal experience of her son who was locked up for four months in a "boot camp". She further describes other young people in the country who have tried their best to evade the police but still found themselves arrested and sentenced. Those heading the NYPD program have always defended it arguing that it aims to prevent crime, but statistics clearly shows that this objective has never been achieved. In the video a young man who is only 17 years old says that he has been stopped to be frisked several times for no reason. At some point, he luckily escaped nine police gunshots (Alexander p.36).
NYPD is an explicit example of institutionalized racial including violation of citizen's rights as stipulated in the fourth amendment that protects citizens against unreasonable search. The strategy only targets people of color with 84% of people stopped to be frisked being young men of color. They stereotype even to the extent of stopping and frisking their officers. In the video, one of the NYPD officers complains that he was profiled by his colleagues because of the color of his skin (NYPD's Stop-and-Frisk: Racial Profiling or 'Proactive Policing N.P). He narrates that this has affected his career with the recordings of inspector claiming the man deserved to be treated the way he was treated because that is what the policy stipulates. To them, any black is probable suspect, and that is the highest form of racial profiling that has been institutionalized in the police department.
Alice Goffman in her book On the Run: Fugitive in an American City argues that the number of prisoners in America is higher than any other developed country with the majority being African Americans (Goffman p. 6). Statistics shows that one in every 15 African American young men is incarcerated as compared to 1 in every 106 white men. Also, Goffman brings out the experience of many young people in Philadelphia who have experienced problems of racial discrimination especially by the city police because of their color. She explains the strategies that the young men have used to keep their heads down from the authorities especially the police and court, but it has all been in vain (Goffman p. 56). A person’s skin color should not be a determining factor for justifying a criminal act. People of the color have staged several demonstrations protesting against the policy because it infringes on their constitutional rights. NYPD should be reviewed and implemented in the right way instead of focusing only on one group of people.
Works Cited
Alexander, Michelle, and Karen Chilton. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. Prince Frederick: Recorded Books, 2012. Print.
Goffman, Alice. On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City. Chicago: The U of Chicago P, 2014. Print.
"NYPD's Stop-and-Frisk: Racial Profiling or 'Proactive Policing'?" YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
