At the Vice Presidential debate on Tuesday, former Gov. Mike Pence said that families in inner cities want more stop and frisk policing as a way to stop crime. Not only has stop-and-frisk been shown to be ineffective, but it was also ruled unconstitutional because it disproportionately targets black and Hispanic Americans.
Donald Trump first reinvigorated the conversation about stop-and-frisk last month when he said during a town hall event that we should consider reviving the practice in cities like Chicago. Trump claimed that targeting minorities on the street helped to deter crime in New York but as the number of stop-and-frisks dropped in the first three months of 2013, so did the city’s crime rate.
Trump did not mention that New York’s practice was ruled unconstitutional, In August 2013, a judge ruled that the New York Police Department carried out searches in a “racially discriminatory manner” and disregarded individual’s right to privacy. The judge ordered remedies and a federal monitor to oversee the department.
Then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg appealed the ruling, but current Mayor Bill de Blasio dropped the appeal after coming into office.
But even before it was banned, the practice was far from successful. Over a period of ten years, approximately 5 million people, largely African Americans and Latinos, were stopped by the NYPD. Roughly nine out of 10 walked away without an arrest or a ticket.
