Evasive Action Examples

time an arrest was given or when an encounter with a civilian was held.  The statistics nearly a

Apart from periodically publishing stop and search records, supervisors and managers of police force are now required to closely monitor such statistics and take timely actions if something wrong is being observed. Also stricter rules on stop and search have since been imposed, along with the requirement of police officers writing a detailed report on spot about every single incident which subjects to review seems helpful in improving police conduct (Fyfe 1979; Skogan and Frydl 2004 in Miller 2010). While stop and search practice has been somehow improved, racial discrimination can still be seen in stop and search statistics. The notion of “Black and minority ethnic groups, particularly black people, have for many years been disproportionately at the receiving end of police stop and search—a fact associated with profound community resentment towards the police” (Bowling and Phillips 2002 in Miller 2010) still largely applies today. Miller’s (2010) analysis indicate that black people are about 6 times more likely to be stopped and searched, while it is about 2 times more likely for Asians. Similar idea is seen in Bennetto’s (2009) report, which draws on police statistics that shows in 2009 “black people are seven times more likely to be stopped and searched than white”, worse than Miller’s analysis with the most recent figures in 2008. No official explaination is provided by Police, but Bennetto (2009) assumes this may be caused by simply discrimination of

The judicial system in America has always endured much skepticism as to whether or not there is racial profiling amongst arrests. The stop and frisk policy of the NYPD has caused much controversy and publicity since being applied because of the clear racial disparity in stops. Now the question remains; Are cops being racially biased when choosing whom to stop or are they just targeting “high crime” neighborhoods, thus choosing minorities by default? This paper will examine the history behind stop and frisk policies. Along with referenced facts about the Stop and Frisk Policy, this paper will include and discuss methods and findings of my own personal field research.

Imagine innocently walking down the street in a city you’ve lived in your whole life, when all of a sudden you hear the dreaded “woop woop” and see those flashing red and blue lights. The police. They interrogate you, ask your whereabouts, and finally, they “frisk” you. Of course, they find nothing; they rarely do when they search people. Although it’s wrong and demoralizing, you know it’s something you’ll have to get used to as an African American living in New York City.

who made the policy and who are enforcing the policy, Stop and Frisk, didn’t intend to

Following through the process of the criminal justice system, after being stopped by police officers, many individuals remain innocent of committing any crime and walk away from the situation without further questions asked. However, at this point, silence is not the answer. Alexander notes regarding the unreasonable searches, “Hardly anyone files a complaint, because the last thing most people want to do after experiencing a frightening and intrusive encounter with the police is show up at the police station where the officer works and attract more attention to themselves” (Alexander 69). Therefore, these countless searches remain unheard of by many because the innocent are too scared to come forward and tell their stories. Perhaps if the silence is broken, word of mouth would prevent others from being unlawfully searched and arrested based on no suspicion. This is not the case though; nevertheless, it is known that “the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) trains police to conduct utterly unreasonable and discriminatory stops and searches” (Alexander 70). The use of such searches and methods to determine whom

The stop, question, and frisk policy was implemented in the NYPD in an effort to make the city a safer place. With weapons becoming more easily accessible than ever, they are becoming more of a problem, and officers and the general public are now in more danger than ever of being killed by a firearm, knife, or a weapon. Although the policy is intended to prevent harm and protect society, it has been under major scrutiny in not only the past few years, but also the past few decades as well. Due to the fact that minorities are believed to be the main target of this policing tactic, many people have argued it is inherently corrupt should be abolished. On the other hand, it has shown to provide some positive outcomes and as a result, it is a necessary

The NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices raise serious concerns over racial profiling, illegal stops and privacy rights. The Department’s own reports on its stop and frisk activity confirm what many people in communities of color across the city have long known: The police are stopping hundreds of thousands of law abiding New Yorkers every year, and the vast majority are black and Latino. In 2011, New Yorkers were stopped by the police 685,724 times. 605,328 were totally innocent (88 percent). 350,743 were black (53 percent). 223,740

In the 2000s, the number of those “Stopped and Frisked” increased drastically due to the law enforcement agencies and departments in New York City forced to meet their COMPSTAT numbers for the given time. COMPSTAT is a system used by the NYPD that collects data about local crimes and the measurements to take control of the issues. Weekly meetings are coordinated to discuss the findings. Clark (2015) stated that, a survey conducted showed that it was more pressure and stress on officers to conduct stops after COMPSTAT became active.

There are many different perspectives that people are taking toward the idea of race-motivated police traffic stops. The frequency of traffic stops among college students and whether or not race is a cause in such traffic stops has many other factors that that need to be taken into consideration, such as gender, age, vehicle, location, and attire.

Research focusing on the calculation of racial disparities in police outcomes has generally examined police traffic stops and the follow up police activities, such as, citations, search and warnings. Review of these studies suggests that calculation methods of racial disparity vary from one study to another; however, majority of those studies employed population as a baseline measure or benchmarking variable (Withrow, 2002; Smith & Petrocelli, 2001; Withrow & Williams, 2015). Early studies using population as a baseline measure to compare disproportionate traffic stop counts found substantial racial disparities (Lamberth, 1996; Verniero & Zoubek, 1999). Studies later have begun to discuss that

Before the introduction of PACE 1984…‘sus’ laws were found to be used disproportionality towards black people. They were repealed in 1981 and after a series of riots across the country between 1980 – 1981, the Scarman report and the Royal Commission on Police procedures recommended a complete overhaul of the police. These recommendations led to the creation of the PACE Act 1984. As a result of the Mac Pherson Report it was recommended that all stops be recorded. This recording of stops has shown statistically that if you are black you are 6 times more likely to be stopped and searched. On 7 March 2011 the requirements for the police on how they record stop and search were changed, this reduced the number of items recorded during a stop and search

Law enforcement officials often confront situations where it’s an almost certainty that illegal activities are taking place despite not having sufficient resources to investigate every possible perpetrator. Research on race and vehicle stops by police show that African American drivers are disproportionately stopped in traffic by police for driving violations (Kowalski & Lundman, 2007). The reason is because law enforcement officials use characterizations or

Ethnic differences in offending is another explanation to explain the disproportionality in stop and searches simply reflect ethnic differences in levels of offending. There is low discretion stops and high discretion stops. In low discretion stops the police act on relevant information about an offence e.g. description. In a high discretion stop police act without any intelligence. In these stops is where officers can use there stereotypes. Ethnic minorities are over represented in population groups who are most likely to be stopped such as the young, unemployed and urban dwellers. These groups are most likely to be stopped, regardless of their ethnicity.

Stop and frisk affects the daily lives of minorities and the way that they can act around other people. In Document (B), it states “Some young men no longer clasp hands when greeting each other, they say, fearful that their grasp might mistaken for a drug deal.” Young men, especially black in eastern Brooklyn, are frightened to do certain things that they do on a normal basis