Evaluating policy alternatives to the NYPD stop-and-frisk practice

Policy Alternatives and Conclusion for NYPD Stop and Frisk Policy Executive Summary
This paper provides an analysis of policy alternatives to the Stop and Frisk policy of the NYPD. First, it introduces four alternative policies: focused deterrence, proactive policing, gun buybacks, and gang intervention and prevention programs. Then it analyzes the alternatives based on a set of criteria that look at social, economic, and political impacts. Finally, it provides a preferred policy, steps for implementing it, and monitoring outcomes, as well as recommendations for future action.
Part 1 Analysis of Policy Alternatives New York City is a very diverse and ethnically and culturally rich community. Its African-American, Latino, Hispanic, White, Asian, and blended communities all have a right to exist in peace and harmony with one another. The duty of the NYPD is to serve and protect these communities. The stop and frisk policy may be seen as effective by the police department but it can be seen as divisive, racially-motivated, and harmful by members of these communities (Carbado, 2017, p. 1508).
Policy alternatives to Stop and Frisk include: 1) focused deterrence, 2) proactive policing aka community-based policing, 3) gun buybacks, and 4) gang intervention and prevention programs.
The specific goals that these alternatives aim to meet are: 1) the reduction of crime within the community; 2) the removal of guns from the streets; and 3) the effect of peace throughout the city. From the Christian worldview perspective and the global perspective, these goals would promote peace and community among diverse people and would allow individuals of multiple backgrounds to mix more freely, securely and with a sense of pride and safety in their own communities, parks, streets, and markets. Focused Deterrence Focused deterrence is also known as pulling levers policing because it is a policing strategy that focuses on a swift response, severe punitive measures, and high conviction rates to send the message to the community that crime will not be tolerated. It combines facets of policing with efforts from social services and community organizers mobilizing to get the message out (Braga, 2008, p. 333). From a Christian worldview perspective, the rationale for focused deterrence is like the way in which peace was pursued during the Christian Middle Ages: the threat of war was used as a means of securing peace, as the consequences of war were deemed too great to risk disturbing the peace. The law was severe but its severity deemed necessary for social stability (Stearns, 2014, p. 70).
Focused deterrence aims to meet the goals of crime reduction, gun removal, and peace in the community by enforcing the laws strictly and responding promptly whenever there is a report of a crime. The method of efficient policing and swift and severe enforcement of the law is meant to send a message to criminals that their activities will not be tolerated and that they will be taken to jail. Proactive Policing Proactive policing is also known as community policing and focuses on preventing crime by having police offers be more visible in communities and neighborhoods. Police walk the beat and interact with members of the community as a way to get to know them and learn about their problems. By engaging with the community, trust is built and crime is discouraged through the positive influence and example seen (Jones, 2014, p. 33).
Proactive policing aims to meet the goals of crime reduction, gun removal and peace in the community by creating a culture of trust, responsibility, friendship and commitment between law enforcement officers and the community. Gun Buybacks The policy of gun buybacks is one in which the police department gets guns off the street by buying guns from people in the community, no questions asked. Since the policy of Stop and Frisk is aimed at removing guns from the streets, it is similar to this policy in terms of having the same goal. Gun buybacks remove the consequence of offending minorities, who typically feel targeted from Stop and Frisk and it gives the department a way to remove guns from the street in a way that is more sensitive (Violano et al., 2014, p. 46).
The policy aims to meet the goal of gun removal and crime reduction by purchasing illegal street guns from owners without question. Gang Intervention and Prevention Programs Gang intervention and prevention programs focus on redirecting youths away from gang membership towards more positive engagement with other activities, such as sports, education, and work. These programs have had success in other cities, such as Mesa, Arizona, where one was implemented to reduce gang membership growth and crime (Spergel, Wa & Sosa, 2005, p. 1).
This policy would aim to meet the goals of crime reduction, gun removal and peace in the community by focusing on preventive strategies with youths and redirecting them away from crime culture towards more positive cultural outlets. Forecasting Consequences Llewellyn, Archibald, Clairmont and Crocker (2013) note that “the inclusion of dignity requires attention and respect for the diversity of ways of being that become clear when one approaches individuals in all their embedded and relational complexity” (p. 299). This is something to keep in mind when forecasting the consequences of these policy alternatives, for if they do not lead to an increase in dignity, respect and peace throughout the community they will ultimately be ineffective.
Intended consequences of focused deterrence are that criminals will become aware that their actions will be punished severely and they will either relocate outside the city or cease their activities all together. The unintended consequences could be that individuals begin to oppose law enforcement and violent blowback ensues.
With proactive policing the intended consequences are that the community would become more tight-knight and focused on reducing crime through positive influences and examples. The unintended consequences may be that community leaders begin to have more influence over policing activities.
With gun buybacks, the intended consequence would be the removal of guns from the streets. The unintended consequence would be that the guns removed are of no value and that those with value remain on the streets.
The intended consequence of gang prevention programs would be to move the community’s youth towards more growth-oriented activities. The unintended consequences would be that a vast amount of resources are drained as a result of the major effort required for such a program. Political and Policy Constraints Political constraints with respect to focused deterrence can be seen in the fact New York City recently passed bail reform, which sends a message to criminals that the justice system is going to be lax rather than strict. Focused deterrence does not work effectively if there are any loose ends, and bail reform is a signal that severity is not going to be practiced by the prosecution. This undermines the work of the NYPD and serves as a political and policy constraint.
Politically there are no constraints to proactive policing as it is seen as a favorable step by communities, particularly with minority communities who feel that police are too distant, which creates fear and tension in the society.
With gun buybacks, the political constraints are nil but in terms of policy it is not seen always as an effective approach as research has shown that it can lead simply to people bringing in broken guns that would not be used in crime anyway.
Gang prevention would be faced with political constraints in the sense that it would require coordinated effort among local community organizations, officers, social workers, and political leaders to promote the programs. Such coordination is not always possible in an era of bi-partisan politics.
Part 2
Conclusion and Recommendations
To identify a preferred policy alternative it is first necessary to establish the effective criteria for selection. The following segment examines four criteria: 1) social effects, 2) economic effects, 3) political effects, and 4) ethical justification. Criteria for Choosing the Policy Alternative Social Effects
The social effects look at how the policy would impact the community and its unity. Community is based on respect, appreciation for diversity, and sense of purpose. If a community is robbed of its identity because of a perception of oppression on the part of the police, the community can become antagonistic. From a Christian worldview perspective, peace is preferred state, and this is true in other religions as well, such as Islam. The greeting of peace in Islam is also a staple of the religion and helps to express the culture of peace that the religion seeks to groom. This is really no different from the culture of peace that can be found in Christianity in which it is taught that one should wish peace to men of good will. Peace is a blessing that people will wish unto others in both religious cultures. In Christianity, Christ came to bring peace to men of good will, and in Islam the greeting is “as-salamu alaykum” or peace be with you (Stearns, 2014, p. 60). Both Christ and the Prophet are associated with the phrase “peace be unto him” (Stearns, 2014, p. 60). The social effects of the preferred alternative policy should be to effect peace in the community.
Economic Effects
Economic effects of a preferred policy should be to promote tourism and commerce by showing to people that the streets are safer. Business development is linked to street safety (Felson & Clarke, 1997, p. 3).
Political Effects
Every social and economic effect also has a political effect, as the three spheres are integrated and interact with one another. What is the political effect of these policies? Does one promote political harmony over another? That is the question that should be asked when analyzing their value. Ethical Justification The Christian Ethic should be the most important justification for any policy, as Christian culture is derived from the Christian ethic. However, the Christian Ethic is not exclusive and bears many ethical principles in common with other religions, such as Islam and Judaism. In a culturally diverse community such as New York, it is important to justify a policy alternative by the application of an ethical principle that will appeal to all. The Christian Ethic is essentially universal and rests upon two divine injunctions: 1) love God, and 2) love one’s neighbor. It can be summed up in the Golden Rule, which is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Reason for Criteria The reason for these criteria is that they establish the bounds of social justice, without which no policy can be complete (Jenkins, 2013, p. 39). The principles and teachings relating to peace in Christianity are not unrelated to the principles and teachings also found in other religions such as Judaism and Islam. In all three religions there is a tendency towards achieving the larger goal of peace—though there are differences among the three. In Judaism, the expected peace is a political one where the Jewish kingdom achieves peace in the world. In Christianity, the expected peace is spiritual and is not fully to be realized until one is united to God in the next world. In Islam, the peace is a kind of combination of the two and the type of peace imagined in the next life is a bit more sensual than spiritual.
Two ways that historical developments influenced early Christianity’s principles and teachings related to peace were in 1) the traditional Jewish commitment to peace, and 2) the persecutions of Christians by the pagan Roman rulers of the first few centuries of Christianity’s existence. The traditional Jewish commitment to peace was a fundamental part of their religious experience (Stearns, 2014, p. 48). The Jews also had a strong commitment to war, so they could swing both ways in that respect. But if they were determined to have peace, they would be committed to it in a unique and very special way that not only later influenced Christian principles but also Islamic ones as well (Stearns, 2014, p. 47). This commitment to peace throughout history shows that it is linked to social, economic and political purposes and that all pathways to peach must be interpreted through each of those spheres. Thus, Christians used conversion as a means of obtaining social status and peace through community-driven influence (Yang & Tamney, 2006, p. 125). In other words, through persecution they were able to demonstrate the lessons they had learned from Christ and thus make a big impact on others who were watching. That led to conversion and conversion led to greater influence of Christians throughout the realm. The same idea can be seen in these criteria, which measure the positive impact of the policy alternative in terms of the most important community spheres—the social, the economic and the political.
Assessment Preferred Policy Alternative The Christian ethical principle of the Golden Rule can be found in the idea of proactive policing aka community policing, which puts officers and community members on a more equal footing and promotes the values that both want to see fostered in the community. It is policing by prevention at its core, and it is the preferred policy alternative based on the criteria selected.
Implementation Outline
Community policing is standard policing concept that focuses on putting police on the streets so that they can interact with community members on a daily basis, get to know them, make their presence known in a friendly and familiar manner, and thus reduce the risk of crime and violence through their positive, social and professional presence in the community. To implement it requires having teams of police—typically two officers per section of blocks, depending on need—rounding the blocks continuously and engaging members of the community in a friendly manner (Trojanowicz & Bucqueroux, 1998).  Overview for Monitoring Monitoring community policing can be done by surveying the community and accepting feedback from community leaders. A monitoring agency should be established that will also examine crime rates, reports of crime, and compile data on crime trends pre- and post-implementation of proactive policing.