New York City’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy.

New York City’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy.

Like many others, I have watched New York City’s Stop-and-Frisk Reform policies with interest and with a degree of concern. No doubt law enforcement agencies across the country are also waiting to see what happens in New York.

This past August, a federal judge ruled that the New York Police Department had routinely violated the civil rights of thousands of blacks and Latinos. However, on Thursday, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals put that ruling on hold and removed the judge from the case, saying the judge “ran afoul” of judicial conduct by failing to appear impartial.

The recent ruling was disappointing to Donna Lieberman.  Ms. Lieberman is the Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which is the entity that brought one of the lawsuits challenging the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk tactics.

To an observer, Stop-and-Frisk seems to target primarily blacks and Latinos which renders it as unacceptable for anyone who seeks to promote racial equality. Clearly, blacks and Hispanics are not the only New Yorkers breaking the law in the Big Apple. The NYPD is the largest police force in the United States, consequently what happens in New York impacts other major metropolitan police forces.

I have neither studied the crime statistics, nor the arrest data associated with Stop-and-Frisk, therefore my comments are directed not at the results of the policy, but at the racial profiling which is perceived by many as collateral damage associated with the Program.

Stop-and-Frisk seems to imply that a high number of crimes are committed by blacks and Hispanics in New York, ergo all blacks and Hispanics are potential criminals.

 If I am correct in this assumption, then the racial profiling is indeed offensive and unacceptable, even if the result of Stop-and-Frisk is remarkably positive.

Of course, now that Democrat Bill DeBlasio, a vocal opponent to Stop-and-Frisk, has been elected mayor of New York City, Stop-and-Frisk  might be gone for good. Mr. DeBlasio said: “I’ve been saying for a long time: We need to get to work at reforming Stop-and-Frisk and bringing police and communities together.”

I for one think that measures like Stop-and-Frisk, in the long run do more harm than good to relations between citizens and police.

I am Attorney Martin E. Regan, Jr. and this my personal thoughts.