Police Stop and frisk Essay

Is New York City’s Stop and Frisk law infringing upon Americans rights? In 2011, 685, 724 people were stopped and frisked by the police. This is a record high by more than 50,000 stops in New York City, 87% of the stops were either black or Latino, raising the question of is this morally ethical due to racial profiling (NYCLU, 2014). Why should an individual be stopped and frisked without probable cause? Stopping and frisking without probable cause is an act of racism, profiling someone due to their skin color is wrong, unethical, and creates an outlook that only, or mostly speaking people of color are our criminals of society. Black and Latino are not the sole criminals commiting just as many violent acts or same severity of crimes more than other people of society, so why should people of color be a higher concern than some not of color? If the laws of New York City say that any individual can be stopped and frisked, every person should be searched equally, instead of predominantly people of color. After all, every person of every race commits the same crime, and must be seen as an equal threat to society. For example, in The East Side of New York, police are heavily profiling. 50% of the population consists of blacks, and 39% percent being Hispanic. Only 8% of the residents over the age of 25 have a college degree (NYC, 2014). This has been a notorious area for police officers to stop and frisk. This is a prime example of a poor neighborhood being exploited to police abusing their power to stop and frisk being based upon the socio economic status of this specific neighborhood consisting of 89% colored individuals. â€Å"Today is the beginning of a long-overdue process: the reform of the NYPD to end illegal and racially discriminatory policing, said Vincent Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights† (Fox News, 2014). Vincent Warren is The Executive Director of The Center of Constitutional Rights, also known as the CCR. This legal organization is in sole purpose in the effort to defend the rights of The United States constitution to defend the decloration of human rights (CCR, 2014). â€Å"Vince oversees CCR’s groundbreaking litigation and advocacy work which includes using international and domestic law to hold corporations and government officials  accountable for human rights abuses; challenging racial, gender and LGBT injustice†(CCR, 2014). It is important to note that organizations that are being supported by people such as Vincent Warren are going to high extremes to ensure the constitutional rights of every person, specifically speaking the counter argument of the stop and frisk laws are an injustice in not in New York City, but in every area of The United States. â€Å"For too long, communities of color have felt under siege by the police, and young Black and Latino men have disproportionately been the target,† he said in a news release. â€Å"We are eager to finally begin creating real change†(Fox News, 2014). It is important to note people with high political power such as Vincent Warren are advocating of change of the stop and frisk laws, making this topic of the morals behind the stop and frisk laws are wrong, and reform is necessary to protect The Constitutional rights of the people of America. The entire point of The Constituion is to protect â€Å"The People†. The main goal of the colonization of the Americas is to make life for the people, protecting the rights of every person, not to take away freedom or rights. There must be reform in order to ensure people are following the princples and morals being based upon in which The United States of America is formed. Not only are high ranking officials protecting the rights of people such as Vincent Warren, but the judges and prosectuors themselves who are prosecuting the people who are being arrested under the stop and frisk laws are in fact supporting the change of these laws. This is extremely vital to aknowledge due to the fact that the people who are being involved in the actual punishment of criminals are defending the rights of people, and specifically people of color as in the notorious East side of New York City. For example, â€Å"A judge ruled last year that the New York Police Department had discriminated against blacks and Hispanics when stopping, questioning and sometimes frisking people on the street. The judge ordered major reforms to the department’s implementation of the policy† (Fox News, 2014). With the support of the CCR (Center for Constitutional Rights) along with the encouragement of the Judges to amend the laws of stop and frisk is vital to the response that the stop and frisk laws must be taken more seriously to ensure that the princples upon which The United States of America is founded upon are being followed. I strongly believe the stop and  frisk laws are a complete infringement upon any single individuals constitutional rights. Politicians argue that the stop and frisk laws have been eliminating crimes off of the streets at a significant rate, but this does not excuse police force to profile and allow the judicial system to prosecute people who are being searched without probably cause. Probably cause clearly states, â€Å"sufficient reason based upon known facts to believe a crime has been committed or that certain property is connected with a crim e. Probable cause must exist for a law enforcement officer to make an arrest without a warrant, search without a warrant, or seize property in the belief the items were evidence of a crime†(Hill, 2014). Why should the laws obtaining to probable cause even exist if the law of stop and frisk is demonstrating the hypocritical aspect of probable cause? Probable cause completely cancels out when stop and frisk laws allow police officers to randomly search somebody when there is no clear evidence or reason for someone to be searched. The laws of stop and frisk must continue to reform, constitutional rights are very important to protect. As being stated by politicians and people working under the Justice System, the stop and frisk laws are wrong, and must be thrown out. Bibliography â€Å"Stop and Frisk Statistics in New York City Neighborhoods – Google Search.† Stop and Frisk Statistics in New York City Neighborhoods – Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. . â€Å"Stop-and-Frisk Data | New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) – American Civil Liberties Union of New York State.† Stop-and-Frisk Data | New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) – American Civil Liberties Union of New York State. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. http://www.nyclu.org/content/stop-and-frisk-data/. Light, Michelle. â€Å"East New York, Brooklyn.† N.p., n.d. Web. . â€Å"Lawyers: NYC Agrees to Reforms in Stop-and-frisk.† Fox News. FOX News Network, 30 Jan. 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. .