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The Stop And Frisk Policy

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The stop and frisk policy allows police officer to search only to an extent where it is enough to protect the safety of the officer. The stop and frisk policy has caused racial disparities in minority communities; furthermore, it also inflicted pain, resentment and anger among minorities. NYPD’s aggressive style of policing has caused great distrust between the minority community and law enforcement. Law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system must understand the importance of trust building and cooperation with ethnic communities. Law enforcement agencies will need the assistance of the community to effectively deter and solve crimes.
The stop and frisk policy has evolved from the Terry v. Ohio court decision which permits an officer to detain a suspect under reasonable suspicion for a serious crime; however, it does not “allow such intrusion based on a police officer’s inarticulate hunch that a crime is about to occur or is in progress” (American Civil Liberties Union, 2015). In cities with high ratios of minorities and immigrants, the stop and frisk policy creates an air of distrust and can actually cause more harm than good. Statistics from Boers-Goi (2015) revealed that the NYPD stopped “2.4 million people between 2009 and 2014, of which 150,000 people 6% were arrested. 16% of these arrests were never prosecuted, and another 10% were dismissed. Only 0.1% of all stops led to a conviction for a crime of violence” (p. 1). Based on the aforementioned

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