Stop-and-Frisk: By the Numbers
A review of stop-and-frisk in New York.
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Breaking Down Stop-and-Frisk - While the number of stop-and-frisk interrogations and arrests made by New York City Police Department (NYPD) has declined in 2012, civil rights advocates argue the controversial practice continues to disproportionally target minorities, an argument that appears to be supported by NYPD data showing that Blacks represented more than half of those searched in 2011 alone. BET.com takes a look at the New York Civil Liberties Union's (NYCLU) analysis of stop-and-frisk data from the NYPD to uncover the true impact of stop-and-frisk on the Black community. —Britt Middleton (Photo: AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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What Is Stop-and-Frisk? - A stop-and-frisk procedure gives police officers legal grounds to question and even pat down the outer clothing of an individual if the officer has reasonable suspicion to believe they may be carrying an illegally obtained weapon or have committed or are about to commit a crime. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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Mounting Controversy - Civil rights groups, politicians and citizens in the city and country have called for an end to stop-and-frisk programs and say the controversial policy opens the door for racial profiling of minorities. In June, thousands marched through the streets of New York in silent protest. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has defended the policy, saying it saves lives. (Photo: AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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Racial Breakdown - NYPD arrest data shows that of 685,724 people stopped in 2011, 88 percent were totally innocent. Fifty-three percent were Black, 34 percent were Latino and 9 percent were white. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Reasonable Suspicion - In its 2011 analysis of NYPD arrest data, the NYCLU reported that 55.7 percent of those stopped were frisked. A weapon was found only 1.9 percent of the time. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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Blacks Make Up More Than Half of Stops in 2012 - From January through March 2012, New Yorkers were stopped 203,500 times by police: 54 percent (108,097) were Black, 69,043 were Latino (33 percent), 18,387 were white (9 percent). Eighty-nine percent (181,457 people) were totally innocent, according to the NYCLU.(Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
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Stop-and-Frisks Decline in 2012, but Major Crimes Grow - In the second quarter of 2012, NYPD reported stopping 133,934 people, a decrease of 34 percent from the first quarter of the year. However, the number of major crimes (27,832) actually spiked during those three months and the number of gun seizures (732) fell, the New York Post reported recently. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Innocent vs. Guilty - The NYCLU reported that stop-and-frisks have skyrocketed by 600 percent over the course of Bloomberg's administration (from 97,296 stops in 2002 to 684,330 times in 2011). (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)