A federal judge this morning rebuked the New York Police Department in stunning fashion, declaring the force’s controversial so-called “stop-and-frisk” policy unconstitutional as currently practiced.
In a ruling spiked with dramatic flourishes, U.S. District Judge Shira Sheindlin said stop-and-frisk, a tactic in which cops can search anyone regardless of whether they believe a crime has been committed, has allowed police officers to unfairly target blacks and Hispanics far more than whites. Sheindlin said the policy could continue, however, under strong new restrictions.
New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly have long defended the practice even in the face of challenges from civil liberties groups and minority leaders. They’ve argued repeatedly that the city’s historically low crime rate was proof that stop-and-frisk both works and is a legitimate tool in the fight against the type of violent crime that took hold of New York City in the ’70s and ’80s.
The goal of deterring crime may be “laudable,” Scheindlin acknowledged, but she said, “Many police practices may be useful for fighting crime — preventive detention or coerced confessions, for example — but because they are unconstitutional they cannot be used, no matter how effective.”
In a 198-page ruling, the judge said the “case is about whether the city has a policy or custom of violating the Constitution by making unlawful stops and conducting unlawful frisks… The city’s highest officials have turned a blind eye to the evidence that officers are conducting stops in a racially discriminatory manner.”
She also dismissed the Bloomberg administration’s argument that cops simply do more stop-and-frisks in minority areas because that’s where crime is highest.
“Both statistical and anecdotal evidence showed that minorities are indeed treated differently than whites,” the judge said, ordering that the stop-and-frisk may continue only with the oversight of a federal monitor.
In addition to the monitor, Scheindlin said she will order “various remedies” including a trial program requiring the use of “body-worn cameras” in one precinct per borough and “community-based joint remedial process.”
Bloomberg and Kelly did not immediately comment on the ruling, though City Hall announced they would discuss it during a news conference later today.
Read more about the ruling here
Source: ABC News
