Oct 9, 2012

NYPD Stop-And-Frisk: Attacks On Civil Liberties


You're walking back to your apartment. Maybe you're coming home from work, maybe you've just gone out  to pick up a quart of milk.




As you enter your building, police officers stop you, throw you against the wall and frisk you, without probable cause. Who are you? Where are you coming from? Shut up and empty your pockets. 

For some New York City residents this happens to them dozens, and with some, hundreds of times. 

The NYPD conducts over a thousand stop-and-frisks every day, without probable cause. Some encounters lead to violence committed by the officers, with little or no accountability. One man secretly recorded his stop, the first time such a stop has been captured on audio. In the video below, interviews with police officers (their identities hidden) make clear the NYPD are aware these stops violate civil rights but simply do not care, and are determined to do it anyway.

LINK to the related news story from The Nation.

Carlos Miller's blog, Photography Is Not A Crime, has a good write-up about this HERE.

The practice is finally coming under fire, because people are standing up and demanding that their rights be respected. Remember, the rights you have, you have only because they were defended.  [Warning: the video below contains strong language]

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