In the Media

Turning the page on ‘stop and frisk’ in NYC?

02/05/2014
Al Jazeera America

NEW YORK – Lalit Clarkson pushed his daughter’s stroller down a street in the Bronx last Sunday. He was walking through the same neighborhood while on lunch break in 2006, when he was stopped by New York City police officers.

“My story, in some ways, is no different than other young man’s story that grows up in this city,” Clarkson said. “Walking down the street, you should not be harassed for doing nothing. And this is the daily life for black and brown people across the country.”

Civil rights community backs stop-and-frisk reforms

01/31/2014
USA Today

The civil rights community applauded a move by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to settle the legal battle over controversial stop-and-frisk policies and reform the practice that some said unfairly targeted minorities.

Under the agreement with plaintiffs, a court-appointed monitor will oversee the police department's reform of stop-and-frisk for three years. The city also will work with "community stakeholders" to make sure people who have been impacted by stop-and-frisk help shape reform.

De Blasio flexes progressive muscle in stop-and-frisk case

01/30/2014
MSNBC

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, sticking to a campaign promise to chip away at New York City’s controversial stop-and-frisk policy, announced on Thursday that the city has filed paperwork to drop the city’s appeal to a federal judge’s ruling that the city had violated the constitutional rights of innocent minorities.

The announcement could be the first steps in reforming the much maligned tactic.

Activists vs. cops in frisk case

01/16/2014
Queens Chronicle

Activists and city officials, including new Public Advocate Letitia James, announced last Friday that advocates will take legal action against police union efforts to overturn a new law meant to stop police frisks of people due to their appearance.
The move is the latest in a series of legal maneuvers taken by both sides in the controversy over police stops and frisks.

Police critics on Bratton’s Broken Windows push

01/14/2014
Capital NY

Critics of the Bloomberg administration's police policies say they're concerned about the direction of the department under Bill de Blasio after learning that NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton planned to hire an author of the Broken Windows theory.

The theory emphasizes strict enforcement of quality-of-life crimes as a way to deter more serious and violent crime.

Stop Stopping Stop-and-Frisk Law, Say Activists

01/11/2014
Epoch Times

NEW YORK — Community activists said on Friday that the battle to stop the NYPD from engaging in biased-based profiling isn’t over.

Back in August, after a long political battle, the City Council passed Local Law 71. The law is designed to curb the NYPD’s profiling based on factors like race, religion, sexual orientation, or housing status.

In October, the police union responded with a lawsuit to block the law.

At a Communities United for Police Reform press event at City Hall on Friday, activists called on the Police Union to drop the lawsuit.

Activists Rally at City Hall in Support of Community Safety Act

01/10/2014
NY1 News

Activists took to the steps of City Hall Friday to rally in support of non-discrimination laws, which the police union is trying to get rid of.

Last year, the City Council passed the Community Safety Act over the veto of then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The law makes it easier for people to sue the New York City Police Department if they felt they had been profiled.

The Patrolman's Benevolent Association filed a lawsuit against the legislation.

They say it unfairly punishes officers who are trying to do their job.

Communities United for Police Reform hosts forum on policing and redefining public safety

12/05/2013
New York Amsterdam News

Last week, Communities United for Police Reform hosted an open dialogue at the Talking Transition tent in Chelsea on the future of public safety in New York City. A panel of social justice advocates engaged in social discourse and discussed issues that highlighted a direction the de Blasio administration should take on policing community safety to keep our streets safe without discrimination.

Bill de Blasio appoints William Bratton Police Commissioner, reactions pour in

12/05/2013
New York Daily News

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's pick for Police Commissioner prompted a range of reactions across the city Thursday.

Prominent New Yorkers, the police unions and civil rights groups at loggerheads with the NYPD over "stop-and-frisk" policing all weighed in on the selection of former top cop Bill Bratton to replace outgoing Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

New report on stop and frisk policy

Attorney General’s Office shares new findings after studying arrests
11/21/2013
Queens Chronicle

The stop and frisk debate continues and now a new study has been thrown into the mix.

The New York Attorney General’s Office released a report last week that supports the claim that the policy targets mostly young men of color and did not reduce crime.

“Supporters and opponents of the practice agree that only 6 percent of all stops result in an arrest,” the report reads. “Yet until now, no known study has sought to assess what happens following those arrests.”

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