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October 30, 2010

NYPD Discriminating Against Minorities

By  Press TV Staff / Press TV


The report, compiled by Professor Jeffery Fagan, says that the New York Police Department (NYPD) is racially profiling African Americans and Hispanics, pointing out that they are more likely to be frisked or have physical force used against them.

It found that over the last 6 years, nearly 150,000 stops by NYPD lacked any legal justification. In other words, 30 percent of stops were either illegal or of questionable legality.

Additionally, over 500,000 other stops may have been unconstitutional but were not documented sufficiently by the police officers.

"I'm just walking, and then right in front of my building the cops just pulled up on the curb, by the curb, stopped and said, 'Put your hands on the wall.' They didn't even say they were cops, and they just frisked me and my friend," one young, African American man told Press TV.

According to the Center of Constitutional Rights, 8 percent (59,967) of the individuals frisked between 2005 to June 2008 were White, indicating that the other 85 percent (660,936) were African American or Hispanic.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly responded by saying, "I think you have to understand this is an advocacy paper. We haven't had a chance to look at it, but I wouldn't take the position that this is an objective document."

Jesus Gonzales, of the nonprofit Make the Road New York told Press TV that the NYPD's 'stop and frisk' policy is the direct result of quotas.

One fatal incident involving New York police occurred in the 2006 shooting of Sean Bell, an unarmed African American man killed by police early in the morning of his wedding, which eventually resulted in a USD 7 million settlement.

For original article and to watch the corresponding video, click here.


More on: Expanding Civil Rights 

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Victory for Immigrant Families: Preventing Unjust Deportations in NYC

On March 18, 2013, Mayor Bloomberg signed new legislation to stop federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from using NYC’s criminal justice system to deport thousands of New Yorkers.

Building on legislation we helped to win just over a year ago, Local Laws 21 and 22 prohibit not only the Department of Correction but now also the NYPD from spending millions of city taxpayer dollars to hold individuals on behalf of ICE agents for detention and deportation. Each year, thousands of New York families will stay together who would otherwise have been torn apart by overly aggressive, indiscriminate immigration enforcement.

At a moment when the country is debating immigration reform, with these laws, New York City sends a clear message to Washington that tearing apart thousands of immigrant families is bad policy.

With your support, we look forward to winning national reform that keeps families together. We thank our partners at the Center for Popular Democracy, the Cardozo Immigration Justice Clinic and the bills’ sponsors, NYC Council Speaker Quinn and Council Member Mark-Viverito, for their courageous leadership.


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