Stop And Frisk Case Summary

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When are some laws that are implemented by the police harmful to society? In 1968, a Police Officer in Ohio decided to search individuals in front of a store based on the suspicion that the individuals might attempt to rob it. This case is known as Terry v Ohio (United States) and is the beginning of what is known as Stop and Frisk. In 1971 New York City adopted Stop and Frisk and the New York Police Department began implementing the law on the general public. The following years little was said about the policy until 1999, when an unarmed African American, Amadou Diallo, was shot by police during a routine Stop and Frisk procedure. This incident resulted in a first class action suit against New York City for illegal Stop and Frisk and …show more content…

Many residents of New York City endured harassment from the New York Police Department while Stop and Frisk was implemented. William Brangham, a News Hour special correspondent, interviewed two African American males who were plaintiffs in the Federal court case that decided to ban Stop and Frisk in 2013.
William Brangham reported similar stories from the two individuals. Nicholas Peart and David Ourlicht both stated that they had been stopped ten or more times by a New York City Police Officer and was never arrested or given a ticket. Later in the same interview Peart also stated this was normal amongst minorities in New York City and that it's almost like a rites of passage (Brangham).
With the constant thought of possibly being stopped by police without reason and to be treated as a criminal in front of neighbors, family, and friends is not only embarrassing, but also deters individuals to pursue enjoyable events with those same people. This creation of a hostile living environment is the definition of harassment. Harassment was not the only problem that derived from the Stop and Frisk policy, and through statistical evidence Racial Profiling was also a major …show more content…

And although, with statistics that showed Caucasians were committing crimes at a higher rate the New York Police Department stopped and searched African Americans and Latinos overwhelmingly more. Though the New York Police Department claims that they do not condone Racial Profiling the statistics paint a very different picture. And though Racial Profiling is a major issue for some races all races had concerns for their Fourth Amendment Constitutional

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