When we heard about stop and frisk, what comes first in our minds? Is stop and frisk policy important in the community? Stop and frisk is a situation in which a certain police officer who has the suspicion to a person, detains the person, and runs his hands over the outer garment of the suspect lightly for a purpose to determine if the person or suspect carries a concealed weapon. The stop and frisk search is one of the most controversial police procedures. When a police officer let a person stop, it is different from an arresting the person. Generally, frisking is limited to patting down of the outer clothing of the person. Police officers followed the practice of stop and frisk. In 1968, the Supreme Court of the United States of America evaluated the practice under the Fourth Amendment, the protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. “Stop and frisk helps the community in a manner of controlling the higher crime rates that happens and many people will die if the policy on stop and frisking stops.”
A limited search occurs when a certain police officer confronts a suspicious person. The effort is done to prevent any crime to take place anytime. The police officer frisks or pat down the person for search of weapons and interrogate the person at the same time. The difference between stop from arresting is that when arresting it is a lengthy procedure that the suspect is taken to the police station. While a stop, it involves only a temporary intervention with the liberty of a person. During the frisk, if the police officer uncovers more evidence, the stop leads to an actual arrest but if there is no evidence found by the police officer, the person or suspect is released automatically. The limited patting down of the outer clothing is frisking and the perfect opposite of a full search. If the police officer feels something like a weapon in particular that is the moment, he reaches inside the clothing of the person or suspect. If no weapon is felt by the police officer, the search is stopped and just remains in the outer clothing. The Fourth Amendment on the protection against unreasonable searches and seizures as mandated in 1968 by the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Under the Fourth Amendment case law, this constitutional search and seizure operation is based on a probable cause. Stop and frisk is conducted based on a reasonable suspicion; a lower standard compared to probable cause.
Police officers undergo different challenges when it comes to stop and frisk. They are being scrutinized as offender of the human rights of the person when that person is suspected carrying a concealed weapon. Police officers are responsible for any crime violation in the community. Some people who expressed their sentiments about the policy in stop and frisk did not look deeper on the effect without performing the policy, they are only concerned on their privacy but never thinks about the things that will become worst. People should see that with this stop and frisk, crimes in New York in particular has declined. Criminals are now in hesitant to commit unlawful act since the police officers keep an eye on them anytime and anywhere as long as their human rights are not violated. Police officers are just securing the benefit of the public, they are trying not to focus on some critics that keep on hammering them by saying that stop, and frisk is an act of unfairness.
Ray Kelly, a New York Police Commissioner, during his appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday morning, his unwavering support is appreciated as he defended the New York Police Department who performs the stop and frisk controversial program. He claimed that more people would die, New Yorkers in particular without the procedure on stop and frisk. He emphasizes that stop and frisk is a practice that is commonly used in NYC police officers; that interrogates thousands of pedestrians and frisks those people for the possibility of carrying weapons and contrabands. As affirmed by Shira Scheindlin, a Federal judge, the program has disproportionately targets young black and Latino men that leads many to claim that the act constitutes racial profiling and ruled that the practice is to be unconstitutional. David Greogory, NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday morning host, asked Kelly about the issue and Scheindlin’s ruling. According to Kelly, that Mayor Michael Bloomberg has already appealed and stands for the dismantling of the program on stop and frisk. Kelly added that he has no further question about the ruling of the federal judge and the appeal of Bloomberg on his political views but he believes that without the program on stop and frisk, violent crimes will surely increase especially on higher crime rates among minorities.
There is a need of balance in the community and the reality; violence happens disproportionately in the minorities and in the big cities throughout United States of America. Through stop and frisk program, police officers have recorded low numbers of murder crimes in the city of New York, recorded low numbers of shooting incidents in the area of visibility, and police officers are keep on performing these things right to save more lives of the victims and innocent people. Stop and frisk is something that is vital to policy implementation. Policy implementation happens throughout the United States of America at any police officer jurisdictions. Police officers have a lawful right of inquiry if they possibly see any suspicious act or behavior from anybody and the duties perform by police officers on stop and frisk is not mainly an issue that happens only in New York city but it is an issue throughout United States of America. Stop and frisk is not about racial discrimination and violation of person’s privacy instead a security to every citizen in the community.
Reference
Mukherjee, S., (2013). Thinkprogress. New York City Police Commissioner: ‘No Question’
More People will Die without Stop and Frisk, retrieved from http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/08/18/2485001/ray-kelly-more-deaths-stop-and-frisk/
