Introduction
Stop and risk refers to a form of search and seizure where police officers can stop citizens, ask questions, and search for any weapons based on reasonable suspicion. There are certain requirements that must be observed if a stop is to be valid. One is the circumstances under which the stop is being done. The police officer must observe unusual activity, which based on his experience he might conclude that a criminal action is about to be done. An example of such a circumstance is where an individual may be casing a store and frequently peers through the window on several occasions without going in to purchase any item. Furthermore, an officer based still on experience can conclude that an individual is armed and dangerous. The second guideline for the application of a stop is that the police officer has to identify himself or herself as an on officer of the law and has to make reasonable inquires.
In order to proceed to a frisk the above two conditions have to be satisfied first. Frisking is normally done for purposes of protection both for the officer and for the public population. This will generally include a limited search of the outer clothing of the individual that is deemed dangerous. This is normally done to verify whether the person is carrying an armed weapon.
The issue with stop and frisk is that it can be abused. It can be used to abuse individuals racially. Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be stopped and frisked when crime rates in minority areas tend to go up. Additionally conducting stop and frisk in low crime areas against blacks and other minority groups may seem to be illogical.
Comparison with Holocaust
Based on the introduction, the main goal of stop and frisk is to curb or reduce crime. Additionally, guidelines have been provided for the application of the stop and frisk tool. The goal of the stop and frisk ideology can be backed by economic or social responsibility reasons. On the other hand, the holocaust had no social responsibility agenda. The idea was to kill all the Jews.
The stop and frisk tool differs with the holocaust in that the acts of killing were done by the military and ordinary citizens. The Jews existence was considered a crime. In the stop and frisk, the police officers do the duties and they are not required to kill anyone. The purpose if any danger is discovered is to arrest the individuals for them to be charged in a court of law. The searches and seizures for the holocaust were done to apprehend the Jews and not to get weapons, as is the case in stop and frisk.
The stop and frisk tools if not operated under the guidelines can emulate certain attributes of the holocaust. For instance, during the stop and frisking process certain police officers may be inclined to torture the suspect for purposes of gaining information. Racial profiling is an attribute that is linked to both the holocaust and stop and frisk. The holocaust was directed to the Jews. For the stop and frisk tool, issues arise because of its use against racial minorities such as the blacks and Hispanics. The Jews were blamed for the evil and disasters in the society. In the case of the stop and frisk, blacks and other minority groups are shown as the reason for crime in the country.
