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New York City Stops and Frisks Policy Research Assignment (Dissertation Sample)

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New York City stops and frisks policy

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New York City stops and frisks policy
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New York City stops and frisks policy
The Stop, Question and Frisk (SQF) regulation has been undertaken by the New York City police officials and in other cities around the country. SQF is a routine policy carried out by the police where individuals are stopped, questioned, and even frisked. Police can carry out the SQF policy anywhere in the city including subways, sidewalks, and outside building apartments among other places. There have been increased numbers of complaints from the public as a result of the manner in which the SQF policy is carried out. New York residents claim that these stops, Question, and Frisk policy only target people of a certain color, suggesting discrimination. However, police officials have maintained that the SQF policy is meant to protect residents and ensure security in the city CITATION Chr11 \l 1033 (Chronopoulos, 2011). According to some citizens, who have been a victim of the SQF; claim that the incidences are unwarranted and intrusive.
Is stop, question, and frisk (SQF) constitutionally valid? If so, what decisions made it valid and reasons behind those decisions.
Yes. The SQF is constitutionally valid because the implementation of a national policy by the United States Supreme Court allowed police officers to conduct Stop, Question, and Fisk operations. The implementation of the regulation was precipitated by the Terry v. Ohio case in 1968. According to the Terry case, a police officer approached three men who behaved suspiciously for the purpose of conducting a crime. The police officer found out that one of the three men had a gun. The court of law allows the police officer to conduct Stop, Question, and Frisk practice on the basis of any suspicious act or an individual trying to commit a crime. However, the policy faces challenges from the Fourth Amendment where an individual is protected from unwarranted searches as per the Bill of Rights CITATION Rid08 \l 1033 (Ridgeway, 2008). Before the aforementioned incidence, police officers were required to have a concrete proof for crime suspicions before interfering with the private rights.
The implementation of Stop, Question, and Frisk policy by the United States Supreme Court had been necessitated by various factors. Increase in crime and robbery activities in the New York City led to the initiation of the SQF policy in order to combat crime. Police officials were expected to carry out an SQF to ensure that citizens do not go around carrying weapons for the intention to commit a crime. Therefore, any suspicious person was expected to be stopped, questioned, and if necessary frisked to ensure public security. On the other hand, drug trafficking and drug abuse has also been connected with SQF policy where police officers are expected to crack down drug dealers and trafficking CITATION Rid08 \l 1033 (Ridgeway, 2008).
Is SQF a valid crime fighting tool?
Yes. Stop, Question, and Frisk practice is a valid crime fighting tool because criminal activities have significantly reduced since its inception by the Supreme Court. The SQF policy requires that police officer to check the cause for stops in a document containing various criminal aspects. According to the police record in 2012, almost half of the stop checks conducted by police officers included furtive movements. As compared to the documents in 2011, police officers had managed to prevent furtive movements by 77,000. The implementation of SQF policy has ensured reduced criminal activities as a result of effective measures used by police during the Stop, Question, and Frisk operations. However, some individuals claim that the SQF practice is aimed at harassing people based on their skin color. According to 2012 reports on police checks, Blacks and Hispanics comprised a large percentage of the SQF cases forwarded. According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, blacks were three times more likely to encounter police stops as compared to whites. The effort to end the possession of guns in the New York City, in 1994 did not yield much return as the results were modest despite increases number of SQF CITATION Bro12 \l 1033 (Browne-Marshall, 2012). Therefore, Stop, Question, and Frisk policy may be an effective crime fighting tool for the police officials.
Is SQF a valid police management tool?
Yes. SQF is a valid police management tool because police have managed to prevent and mitigate myriad criminal activities around the city. According to police reports, there has been reduced number of citizens in possession of weapons, contraband, and other miscellaneous crimes on the street. In the modern days, criminal activities tend to occur everywhere in the streets, subways, and other public places. Therefore, having police patrols around the streets have significantly affected the crime levels in the New York City. Today, New York City has experienced the lowest number of crimes as compared to other states. In 2006, the introduction of gun control program by Mayor Michael Bloomberg had made a significant role in the regulation of handgun possession and trafficking. Research study conducted by the NYPD indicated that a crime levels in 2012 had dropped by 20.5 percent. The NYPD spokesman, Paul Brownie, claimed that there have been a large number of illegal guns taken from the SQF crackdown CITATION Ber002 \l 1033 (Berry, 2000). The move resulted into a reduction in the number of illegal guns that would have committed crimes.
Is SQF administered fairly from a racial perspective?
No. Stop, Question, and Frisk practice among the police is not fairly administered to all citizens across the country. People stopped by police include white, blacks, white and black Hispanic, American Indian natives among others. On the contrary, there is existence of racial discrimination in the manner police officials ask questions and frisk people based on skin color. According to statistics, blacks and Hispanics made up the greatest percentage of people stopped by police officers. In 2011, the number of blacks stopped amounted to 399,181, Hispanics constituted of 175,302 individuals while there were 61,805 whites. As a result, police stops encountered more of blacks compared to whites CITATION Rid08 \l 1033 (Ridgeway, 2008). Police reports in other cities also recorded a similar situation where blacks comprised of the largest percentage of all stops.
Is SQF, carried out with racial bias, unfairly targeting minorities?
Yes. SQF is usually carried out on racial bias and in most cases targets minorities in the Ney York City. According to the NYPD reports, the number of blacks being stopped by police officers supersedes the number of white by three times. According to research studies, blacks and Hispanics have constituted the greatest percentage of people stopped by police officers during patrols. Blacks and Hispanics form the minority groups in the New York City, leading to a violation of their rights and suppression as a result of color. In other cities such as Toronto, blacks have been three times more likely to be stopped by patrol police for questioning, and also frisking. On the other hand, a vast range of stops is connected with males as compared to females. According to NYPD report from 2003 throughout to 2011, indicated that 93 percent of blacks, 90 percent of whites, and 93 percent of Hispanics were involved in police stops. A trend in increased male blacks and Hispanics has been observed over the years throughout 2012 CITATION Ete12 \l 1033 (Eterno & Silverman, 2012). Therefore, police stops have adversely affected some people in the New York City based on gender and race.
If you believe minorities are unfairly targeted, why are they being targeted?
The Stop, Question, and Frisk policy among the New York police officers has targeted some people in the society. For instance, more stops and arrests have comprised of blacks and Hispanics. On the other hand, male blacks and Hispanics have also comprised of the greatest percentage of police stops that take place. There are myriad reasons why police officers undertake such bias and discriminatory practice that are against the law. For instance, minority groups lack a power and influence to the authorities. Therefore, more often fall victims of stop, question, and frisk practices. On the other hand, discriminatory practices against blacks in America still persist among various government agencies and authorities. As a result, black Americans and Hispanics and other minority groups face discrimination against the law. On the other hand, male blacks and Hispanics form the greatest percent of police stops since men are often suspected of committing violent crimes as compared to females CITATION Bro12 \l 1033 (Browne-Marshall, 2012). Therefore, harassment and discrimination practices among minority groups including male blacks and Hispanics have increased in the NYPD.
What type of criteria should be utilized as a criterion to conduct an SQF?
Police officers are required to follow predetermined procedure upon conducting the Stop, Question, and Frisk policy. The implementation of a clear and precise procedure ensures that citizens are not harassed and discriminated by police officers during the SQF. For instance, an officer is required to stop an individual and request for information with a particular objective. Police stops and questions are supposed to be not necessarily about criminality but on a wide range of objectives. According to the law, police officer is expected to arrest an individual ...
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