Protesters March Against City Funding Of NYPD Stop-And-Frisks
Protestors took to the streets of the Jackson Heights section of Queens today to march against the New York City Police Department's stop-and-frisk policy.
Demonstrators gathered on Roosevelt Avenue to protest City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's approval of the NYPD's budget for the controversial tactic.
Critics of the program say frisking is unconstitutional and promotes racial profiling, as statistics show the vast majority of the stops involve blacks and Latinos.
Recently released data shows nearly 90 percent of those stopped are innocent.
Meanwhile, city officials say the number of murders in the city is expected to hit a record low this year, and shootings are at their lowest point in at least 18 years.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly are crediting police efforts, including the stop-and-frisk policy, for the decline in crime.
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http://suzannahbtroy.blogspot.com/2012/12/activists-plan-stop-and-frisk-march-on.html
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2012
Activists Plan Stop-And-Frisk March On Sunday Written by Nick Powell
Activists Plan Stop-And-Frisk March On Sunday
The New York Police Department is reveling in the news released this week that homicides recorded in the city are at an all-time low, and have dropped 19 percent since the previous year. Supporters of the NYPD are pointing to these numbers as evidence that stop-and-frisk policing is working to prevent violent crime.
Count activist Louis Flores as someone who is not buying what the NYPD is selling, as he is one of the main drivers behind a planned march against the controversial law enforcement tactic that has disproportionately affected minority communities, including his own in Jackson Heights–where the march will take place.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn
“I’d like to know how many people in my community were stopped and how many homicides have been prevented, but they don’t give those statistics,” Flores said. “It’s just a generality, a political spin that they offer to justify stop and frisk. They’re in a defensive position where they feel like they have to justify what they’re doing and they point to a decrease in homicide rate, but I don’t believe it.”
The message that Flores hopes will arise from the protest is that the City Council–and Speaker Christine Quinn in particular–should pull funding for the stop-and-frisk program during city budget negotiations. Quinn has addressed some of the problems related to stop-and-frisk in the past, but has not signed on as a sponsor to the Community Safety Act, the proposed legislation in the Council that would specifically prohibit race-based profiling by police officers, among other measures. Flores hopes that Quinn and the City Council will take action and end the practice altogether.
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http://www.cityandstateny.com/activists-plan-stop-and-frisk-march-on-sunday/
http://christine-quinn-sold-out.blogspot.com/2012/12/Protesters-March-Against-City-Funding-Of-NYPD-Stop-And-Frisks.html
Jackson Heights Queens Stop and Frisk Protest Against Christine Quinn Update
http://christine-quinn-sold-out.blogspot.com/2012/12/Protesters-March-Against-City-Funding-Of-NYPD-Stop-And-Frisks.html
Jackson Heights Queens Stop and Frisk Protest Against Christine Quinn Update
