Community Is New York City,

¶ … community is New York City, and there are many issues facing the community, but the biggest issue right now is the issue of random pat down searches by the New York Police Department and the problem of racial profiling in this practice. The law that permits random searches of individuals, called Stop and Frisk, has divided New Yorkers who believe in civil liberties, but who also can see the crime trends and who understand why the NYPD operates the way it does. The civil liberties supporters believe the law is racist, uses racial profiling as a core mechanic, and is unconstitutional in the granting to police the power of random search. Those who support the law see that it works, because 12% of those who are searched do end up being convicted of some crime, or are being searched for by the police department. The program has given the police a measurable and repeatable ability to conduct police work anywhere in the city with a single strategy, and they approve of the need of the Stop and Frisk law. The Bloomberg administration is at the center of the political and leadership roles of this debate, and the mayor believes the law is not only necessary, but beneficial to the citizens of New York.

The New York Police Department is permitted to pat down random individuals on the streets of New York, with the caveat that these searches must be random and not targeted towards any particular group. This law is one of the counter terrorism rules that were passed after the September 11th terrorist attacks. The object of this rule is to randomly search for weapons, drugs, and any other illicit material that may be present on the streets. Unfortunately, however, the Stop and Frisk law has become politicized, and has had many worried about the enhanced powers of the NYPD to conduct these searches.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, renowned for his business sense and popularity in the city, has maintained his strict opinion on crime throughout his administration. (WNYC Newsroom, 2012) the Stop and Frisk law has been successful in catching some wanted criminals, as well as randomly finding pistols and drugs like marijuana on suspects. Due to this success, the police department strongly believes that the stop and search law is a good thing for the protection of the city streets. Using the backdrop of September 11th, the City Council has completely approved of this law as a strong way to fight crime by using the resources that the city already has. There are some, however, who believe this law is unconstitutional, and racially charged.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the chief protector of American constitutional rights, believes this law is unconstitutional. (NYCLU, 2011) the police are not permitted to search without a warrant, which takes a decision from a judge. The law bypasses these legal requirements by sticking to a 'random' model, which means that since the searches are randomly conducted, they are not infringing on personal protections because the police are not targeting specific individuals. The ACLU believes the fear of terrorism is not enough to justify the sacrificing of one's rights. The New York branch of ACLU, NYCLU, has stated, "The NYPD is turning black and brown neighborhoods across New York City into Constitution-free zones." (Signore, 2011)

The number of Stop and Frisk stops that the NYPD conducts has been increasing at an alarming rate as well. In 2010, the NYPD conducted 600,000 of these searches during the year. In 2011, that number was 700,00. Considering 8 million residents represent the city, this number is nearly 10% of the population of New York. The searches take about fifteen minutes each, and added up, number millions of hours of police time spent conducting these Stop and Frisk searches, making the practice a core part of NYPD police training and street policy, and not simply a seldom used law. Another startling fact is that 88% of those who are stopped are not at all guilty of any crime, but are still forced to submit to the police officers conducting the search for the duration of the search, and cannot bypass the search under any circumstances. This means that the police are spending the vast majority of their time not catching criminals, which may seem like an inefficient method.

The NAACP, a political group representing African-Americans, has come out against the Stop and Frisk law because of statistics published by the NYPD that show that young black men are targeted at much higher rates for random searches than any other race. (Rivera, 2010) the NYPD searches young black men as often as they search young white men, but considering that there are six times as many white men than black men in the city, the statistics are shockingly unfavorable. The NYPD insists that it is conducting its affairs for the maximum safety of the community, and since statistically crime is more prevalent in young black men, there is a need for these different proportions.