Law enforcementNYPD stopped more than 600,000 in 2010, highest number recorded
The New York Police Department stopped and questioned 601,055 people in 2010; Black and Latino men accounted for 85 percent of the stops; of those stopped, about 14 percent were given summonses or arrested; the remaining 86 percent were questioned, but not charged or issued a summons; it is not clear how many were frisked
Stop-and-question sometimes includes a "frisk" // Source: silive.com
More than 600,000 people were stopped and questioned by police last year — the highest number since the NYPD began releasing the data in 2002.
Police stopped 601,055 people in 2010, an increase of about 4.3 percent from the 575,304 stopped the year before. Of those stopped, about 14 percent were given summonses or arrested. The New York Daily News reports that the remaining 86 percent were questioned, but not charged or issued a summons. It is not clear how many were frisked. Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the numbers show glaring disparities between whites and people of color stopped by police. Black and Latino men accounted for 85 percent of the stops last year.
“Unfortunately, the pattern of stopping innocent New Yorkers continues,” Lieberman said. “The pattern of stopping enormous numbers of overwhelmingly African-American and Latino men continues.”
Police officials have repeatedly denied enforcing quotas or targeting blacks and Latinos.
Last July, then Governor Paterson signed into law a bill prohibiting police from storing in its electronic database the names of addresses of those stopped but found to be doing nothing wrong.
Police said at the time that it would hamper their ability to fight crime.
