Stop and Frisk: Unveiling Practices, Impact, and Solutions in this Free Essay Example

Stop and frisk is a practice carried out by police officers in which they stop pedestrians and search them, without any reasonable suspicion required for the processes to be taken. The legal precedents guide these established practices on the essential preconditions that are necessary to engage in these acts in accordance with the law. Ideally, this process is a programmed police activity that is best carried out lawfully when citizens are suspected to be armed or pose an immediate danger to either the police or the public (domestic terrorism). Besides, the stop-and-frisk practice requires a higher level of predictable source of commitment to unlawful activities. By so doing, the police officers will be in better positions to question potential suspects and observers thus cautioning potential lawbreakers and detaining the active offenders.

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In New York City, the first review of stop and frisk practice arose under Mayor Rudy when William J. Bratton was the police commissioner. The procedure grew steadily in the early 2000s and a rapid increase was encountered in 2006 when more than half a million stops were encountered across the city. The process peaked in 2011 and began to decrease immediately in 2012 was 685000 and 533000 stops respectively. In 2013, this act became a major issue in the city as there were claims that the program only targeted the people of color. It did not go well with the supporters of the program as they insisted that the main agenda of the act was to fight domestic terrorism in the city. Later in 2013, Judge Shira Scheindlin a federal district court judge declared the program unconstitutional, and in 2014 the newly elected Mayor ended stop and frisk. It was expected that between 2012 and 2014 when the stops declined, there would be an increase in domestic terrorism especially murder, but instead the opposite was experienced. The murder rate decreased directly proportional to the number of stops. Besides, the lowest number of murder cases was experienced in 2013 when the stops decreased the most.

Apart from discriminating against the community of people of color, there are other issues such as racial profiling which was a result of stop and frisk. Racial profiling is an action that has been initiated by law enforcement based on a person’s race and ethnicity, (or national origin) instead of investigating a person’s behavior or depending on the information that implies that the person has engaged in unlawful activities such as crime.

Also, sexual assault is an issue that arose during the stop-and-frisk period. The police would touch people anywhere during the search including the most sensitive parts without asking for consent. Some people would be threatened with arrest issues whenever they tried to resist the act. The procedure made them terrified as most police instilled fear in the citizens of color and made them believe that they were criminals and should be treated like they were.

Besides, victims lost their trust in law enforcement. It is because they expected the police to protect them and allow them to exercise their rights as citizens of America, but instead, the opposite happened. Most people of color were oppressed, some were arrested for trying to stand up for their rights and ended up in prison as criminals as most could not afford bail fees.

Moreover, during the stop-and-frisk, some people were left with major injuries. It is because the police officers would throw the suspects on the walls or fence or even hold them as they wished and no one was allowed to object to the process until they were done.

The possible resolutions for these issues are First, ensuring that the police department has a diverse demographic profile so that the police would not be considered as outsiders trying to occupy a community that is not theirs. Ideally, this has been considered by New York City and Newark.

Secondly, the idea of training and retraining police officers and including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as academy lecturers would help in fighting for every individual’s right in the country.

Third, the necessary authority should discipline the street cops. It can be done by making unduly aggressive stops and frisking cops to apologize if they are not right. They might not agree to this but it is very essential as it will help to make the police act correctly. Lastly, it is unfair to blame the police for things they did not do and cannot be of any help.

Conclusion

In conclusion, police officers should learn how to respect and treat all citizens equally without any discrimination regarding communities of color, racial profiling, or instilling fear in residents. It will make the citizens to respect them too believe in the law enforcement department, and always allow them to stop and frisk if necessary without any disturbance. But I do believe that saturating more police in places believed to be high-crime neighborhoods will reduce domestic terrorism rather than the stop-and-frisk program as witnessed in 2013.