Law enforcementJustice Department endorses NYPD’s stop-and-frisk
The Justice Department (DOJ) has entered the debate on the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy, telling a federal judge that DOJ endorses the program as long as there is independent oversight to monitor changes in the policy if civil rights violations occur.
NYPD officers in a stop-and-frisk training exercise // Source: daum.net
The Justice Department (DOJ) has entered the debate on the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy, telling a federal judge that DOJ endorses the program as long as there is independent oversight to monitor changes in the policy if civil rights violations occur.
ABC news reports that U.S. District Court Judge Shira Sheindlin has yet to make a decision on the program after a 10-week trial that saw twelve people, mostly African-American and Latino men, testify they were stopped simply because of their race.
Several police officers testified in defense of the program, explaining how it works and disputing the testimony of the men who said they were picked on the basis of their race.
Lawyers for the DOJ filed a 21-page statement of interest in the case. Court papers state the government was weighing in “only in order to assist the court on the issue of remedy, and only should it find that NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices are unlawful.”
“The department has extensive experience working to ensure that police services are delivered in an effective, constitutional manner,” the Justice Department said in a statement following the court filing. “Our statement of interest is intended to share our experience relevant to fashioning an appropriate remedy, should it be required.”
In the last ten years, NYPD stopped five million people, most of them African-Americans and Latinos.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly believe the program has been helpful in driving down crime in the city to record lows.
In its statement to Judge Sheindlin, the DOJ said it has secured the reforming of police misconduct in dozens of law enforcement agencies across the country, and offered the judge information on these cases.
“An independent monitor can be essential to ensuring that complex institutional reform is achieved,” the statement said.
Judge Scheindlin promised her decision would be a timely one.
