Press Office
Contact: Stephanie Hoo, (212) 669-3747 May 17, 2012
NEW YORK, NY – City Comptroller John C. Liu stated the following in response to questions about proposed police reforms to stop and frisk:
“The stop and frisk policy doesn’t need to be reformed, it needs to be abolished. Remedies such as training videos and informational cards are inadequate band-aids. It’s time to end this divisive and ill-conceived tactic.
“According to reports, New Yorkers were stopped and frisked by police nearly 700,000 times last year – almost all of those targeted were innocent of any crime, and almost all of them were Black or Latino. It’s just impossible to say stop and frisk is not racial profiling, and continuation of this practice not only violates the department ban against racial profiling but raises civil rights questions. It also poses a potential financial liability to the City, as evidenced by rising claims against the NYPD and the federal judge’s ruling allowing class-action status in a stop and frisk lawsuit. It’s time to stop ‘stop and frisk’.”
Background:
- According to preliminary statistics, there were 2,241 new civil rights claims filed against the NYPD in Fiscal Year 2011, up 23 percent from the 1,826 claims filed in FY 2010.
- Overall, 8,913 claims were filed against the NYPD in FY 2011 (including personal injury and property damage), an historic high.
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