The NYPD Stops and Frisks More Blacks than Whites!
This is not work-related, but it's important because similar stories could be told in many communities outside of NY. Out of the more than 500,000 stop and frisks conducted by the NYPD in 2006, it was revealed that Blacks were searched 5 times more often than Whites. This is according to data released by the City Council’s Public Safety Committee. According to an article in the NY Daily News, the most popular reason cops gave for stopping citizen’s was that the person was in a high crime area and that they made “furtive movements.”
Ah, the shady Black man stereotype rears its ugly head again! And, it’s been used as a defense by White cops in cases such as the Amadou Diallo shooting, the Sean Bell murder, etc.
There’s always a Black man that walked, talked, reached for x, y or z, and/or did something else that could be categorized as stealthy and suspicious. But, when you’re a racist or a cop who buses himself in from a predominately White neighborhood to police Black neighborhoods—everything most Black men do looks suspicious! And, this is the problem, folks!
On top of that, simply searching Black men because they are walking in a high crime area is nothing more than racial profiling. That does not qualify as probable cause. Despite those poor excuses, the NYPD had to try at least one more argument to justify the stops by claiming they only stop suspects based on crime victims’ descriptions.
Yeah! I believe that. Just like I believe that all Black people look alike! And, when all Black people look alike you can stop whomever you like. Right, cops?
It reminds me of something my friend told me after jury duty. She served on a jury where a White detective testified that he saw a Black man in a car. This is the Black man that was on trial for selling drugs. The detective didn’t say he saw a Black man that fit the defendant’s description. He didn’t provide skin color, hair color, hair style, clothing description, facial hair, features, etc. He just said it was a Black man. Everyone in the jury deliberation tried to argue with my friend that the man was pointed out and described by the cop. My friend said, “No, he didn’t point him out. He just said he saw a Black man in a car outside the building. He’s a cop that does surveillance all the time. He’s used to testifying and providing complete descriptions. So, why didn’t he point him out and why didn’t he write a description?”
No one agreed with my friend, so one White person said, “Let’s go back to the transcript. The description is in there.” Well…
They went to the transcript and saw that the detective only said was that there was “a Black man” in the car. He didn’t describe the defendant or anyone else. He just noted that he saw one Black man sitting in a car in a city with more than a million Black men! But, people heard what they wanted to hear—that this defendant fit some description of a suspect.
And, that mindset is why these stop and searches just don’t pass the smell test. “Furtive” behavior is too subjective, especially when you have cops that believe Whites rarely display this behavior and when you have a society that believes that Blacks are prone to appearing suspicious and to be engaged in illegal activity—especially when they could just be sitting in a car!
Source: NY Daily News, by Alison Gendar, Saturday, Februrary 3, 2007, NYPD Frisked Blacks at 5 Times Rate of Whites
Ah, the shady Black man stereotype rears its ugly head again! And, it’s been used as a defense by White cops in cases such as the Amadou Diallo shooting, the Sean Bell murder, etc.
There’s always a Black man that walked, talked, reached for x, y or z, and/or did something else that could be categorized as stealthy and suspicious. But, when you’re a racist or a cop who buses himself in from a predominately White neighborhood to police Black neighborhoods—everything most Black men do looks suspicious! And, this is the problem, folks!
On top of that, simply searching Black men because they are walking in a high crime area is nothing more than racial profiling. That does not qualify as probable cause. Despite those poor excuses, the NYPD had to try at least one more argument to justify the stops by claiming they only stop suspects based on crime victims’ descriptions.
Yeah! I believe that. Just like I believe that all Black people look alike! And, when all Black people look alike you can stop whomever you like. Right, cops?
It reminds me of something my friend told me after jury duty. She served on a jury where a White detective testified that he saw a Black man in a car. This is the Black man that was on trial for selling drugs. The detective didn’t say he saw a Black man that fit the defendant’s description. He didn’t provide skin color, hair color, hair style, clothing description, facial hair, features, etc. He just said it was a Black man. Everyone in the jury deliberation tried to argue with my friend that the man was pointed out and described by the cop. My friend said, “No, he didn’t point him out. He just said he saw a Black man in a car outside the building. He’s a cop that does surveillance all the time. He’s used to testifying and providing complete descriptions. So, why didn’t he point him out and why didn’t he write a description?”
No one agreed with my friend, so one White person said, “Let’s go back to the transcript. The description is in there.” Well…
They went to the transcript and saw that the detective only said was that there was “a Black man” in the car. He didn’t describe the defendant or anyone else. He just noted that he saw one Black man sitting in a car in a city with more than a million Black men! But, people heard what they wanted to hear—that this defendant fit some description of a suspect.
And, that mindset is why these stop and searches just don’t pass the smell test. “Furtive” behavior is too subjective, especially when you have cops that believe Whites rarely display this behavior and when you have a society that believes that Blacks are prone to appearing suspicious and to be engaged in illegal activity—especially when they could just be sitting in a car!
Source: NY Daily News, by Alison Gendar, Saturday, Februrary 3, 2007, NYPD Frisked Blacks at 5 Times Rate of Whites
posted by S. Mary Wills at 6:02 PM
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