This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/09/stop-frisk-opponents-ruling-nypd
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Stop-and-frisk opponents fired up by judge's ruling against NYPD tactic | Stop-and-frisk opponents fired up by judge's ruling against NYPD tactic |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Campaigners fighting the New York City police department's controversial stop-and-frisk policy have been buoyed by a federal court victory that declared one use of the policy to be "systematically" unconstitutional. | Campaigners fighting the New York City police department's controversial stop-and-frisk policy have been buoyed by a federal court victory that declared one use of the policy to be "systematically" unconstitutional. |
| Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled Tuesday that the NYPD should immediately halt the practice of indiscriminately stopping – and sometimes searching and arresting – residents outside thousands of private apartments in the Bronx. | |
| Scheindlin's decision was the first federal ruling, under the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, to declare that certain stop-and-frisk initiatives violated citizens' fourth amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. | Scheindlin's decision was the first federal ruling, under the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, to declare that certain stop-and-frisk initiatives violated citizens' fourth amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. |
| "[The] decision is particularly important because it marks the first time a court has ruled that a substantial part of the NYPD's stop-and-frisk program is unconstitutional," Chris Dunn, New York Civil Liberties Union associate legal director and a lead counsel on the suit, told the Guardian. "With two other major federal cases in the pipeline, now is the time for the city to step back and undertake a major reform of stop-and-frisk before the courts are forced mandate sweeping changes to the program." | |
| This week's ruling relates a to suit that specifically targeted police practices at private residential buildings in the Bronx enrolled in the Trespass Affidavit Program, or Tap, more commonly known as "clean halls". | |
| The Tap initiative began in the early 1990s to combat drug crime. Under the program, property owners give the NYPD a roster of residents and allow officers to patrol their buildings for trespassers. Over 8,000 buildings are enrolled in clean halls citywide. Nearly every private residential building in certain neighborhoods in the Bronx – 3,000 buildings – takes part. | |
| While the department maintains the program is crucial to providing residents with security in some of the city's most challenging areas, critics say it has transformed into a method of harassment in which police routinely overstep their constitutional bounds, questioning and, in some cases, arresting people for simply entering and leaving residences. Plaintiffs in the case claimed they had been questioned while running simple errands and attempting to visit family members. | While the department maintains the program is crucial to providing residents with security in some of the city's most challenging areas, critics say it has transformed into a method of harassment in which police routinely overstep their constitutional bounds, questioning and, in some cases, arresting people for simply entering and leaving residences. Plaintiffs in the case claimed they had been questioned while running simple errands and attempting to visit family members. |
| On Tuesday, Scheindlin ordered the NYPD "to cease performing trespass stops" outside clean halls buildings in the Bronx unless officers had "reasonable suspicion" causing them to believe an individual was about to commit a crime, was in the process of committing a crime or had just finished committing a crime. | |
| Filed in March by the NYCLU, The Bronx Defenders, LatinoJustice PRLDEF and the law firm Shearman & Sterling, the clean halls lawsuit is the narrowest of three related lawsuits targeting NYPD practices related to stop-and-frisk. Scheindlin is presiding over all three. Together the suits present a considerable challenge to a law enforcement tactic that Bloomberg has said "saves lives". | |
| A second federal putative class action suit before Scheindlin, Davis v the City of New York, focuses on police stops in New York City public housing. In an 84-page decision written in October, Scheindlin determined that rules regarding loitering at public housing buildings were "unconstitutionally vague". The decision paved the way for legal action filed on behalf of nine New York City housing authority tenants and their guests who claim they were illegally stopped, searched and arrested. Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued their clients represent "literally thousands of residents and guests" in New York City. | A second federal putative class action suit before Scheindlin, Davis v the City of New York, focuses on police stops in New York City public housing. In an 84-page decision written in October, Scheindlin determined that rules regarding loitering at public housing buildings were "unconstitutionally vague". The decision paved the way for legal action filed on behalf of nine New York City housing authority tenants and their guests who claim they were illegally stopped, searched and arrested. Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued their clients represent "literally thousands of residents and guests" in New York City. |
| The third suit in the trio, Floyd v the City of New York, is the broadest in scope. Filed in 2008, the suit accuses NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly, mayor Bloomberg, several named and unnamed police officers and the city itself of routinely violating the first and fourth amendment rights of thousands of New Yorkers on a daily basis. | |
| Much like the Davis case, attorneys in the Floyd suit argue their clients represent "thousands of New Yorkers who have been stopped without any cause on the way to work, in front of their house, or just walking down the street". In May, Scheindlin granted the suit class action status, after dismissing multiple requests from city attorneys to throw it out. In her ruling, Scheindlin condemned the city's "deeply troubling apathy towards New Yorkers' most fundamental constitutional rights." | |
| The Floyd case is set to go to trial on 11 March, and is expected to last five to six weeks. Following the trial, a hearing will be held to address remedies to street level stops and alleged abuses with respect to Clean Halls. Legal experts have suggested that the outcome of three cases could fundamentally alter how police interact with citizens in New York City, particularly young men of color. | The Floyd case is set to go to trial on 11 March, and is expected to last five to six weeks. Following the trial, a hearing will be held to address remedies to street level stops and alleged abuses with respect to Clean Halls. Legal experts have suggested that the outcome of three cases could fundamentally alter how police interact with citizens in New York City, particularly young men of color. |
| In 2011, the NYPD stopped 685,724 citizens, continuing an upward trend that began with the Bloomberg administration. Nearly nine out of 10 of those stopped in 2011 had committed no crime. The vast majority were black or Latino. The number of young African American men stopped by the NYPD during that period exceeded the number of New Yorkers who make up that racial group. | |
| By 2012, stop-and-frisk had emerged as a hotly contested political issue, particularly with a mayoral election fast approaching. Law enforcement and city officials maintained the practice was an essential crime fighting tool, while critics argued that it was ineffective and a form of racial profiling. Figures released in August revealed police stops had dropped by more than 34% compared to the year before. Kelly denied a connection between a decline in street stops and public criticism. | |
| The three suits Scheindlin is considering correspond to areas where unlawful police stops are often alleged to occur: on the streets, in public housing and in private housing patrolled by police. Describing the aim behind the litigation, Dunn said: "the idea was police stops of civilians on suspicion of unlawful activity, commonly referred to stop and frisk, and it's just in different particular contexts." | The three suits Scheindlin is considering correspond to areas where unlawful police stops are often alleged to occur: on the streets, in public housing and in private housing patrolled by police. Describing the aim behind the litigation, Dunn said: "the idea was police stops of civilians on suspicion of unlawful activity, commonly referred to stop and frisk, and it's just in different particular contexts." |
| In an email to the Guardian, NYPD deputy commissioner Paul Browne said Scheindlin's decision on Tuesday was not a ruling on stop-and-frisk, but instead hinged on the right of police officers to "make inquiries of possible trespassers in and around buildings where building owners explicitly authorize the police to do so". | |
| Browne provided examples of three suspects arrested at Tap buildings in the last year. Each of the suspects were armed at the time of their arrest, and each had prior arrests for charges that included robbery, weapons possession, drug use and possession and trespassing. | |
| The deputy commissioner referenced a statement made by Kelly on Tuesday regarding the clean halls program: "some take for granted the safety provided by doormen who routinely challenge visitors to their apartment buildings. | |
| "Through clean halls, the police have worked to provide a modicum of safety for less prosperous tenants. Their landlords explicitly requested this extra level of protection. The NYPD is fully committed to doing so in a manner that respects the constitutional rights of residents and visitors. Today's decision unnecessarily interferes with the department's efforts to use all of the crime fighting tools necessary to keep clean halls buildings safe and secure." | |
| Scheindlin's ruling, detailed in 157-page decision, was based on a number of sources, including the testimony of a Bronx assistant district attorney who, upon her own investigation, "concluded that the NYPD frequently made trespass stops outside Tap buildings in the Bronx for no reason other than that the officer had seen someone enter and exit or exit the building." | |
| Scheindlin also noted "striking similarities" in the testimony of the plaintiffs in the clean halls case, all of whom are black or Latino, and who spoke during a seven-day hearing in October. The hearing, which also included police witnesses, was the first in the three suits to be presented before a judge. According to Scheindlin's ruling, what she heard moved her to side with the plaintiffs. | |
| Describing a typical encounter outside a Bronx clean halls building based on testimony in the hearing, Scheindlin wrote: "The police suddenly materialize, stop the person, demand identification, and question the person about where he or she is coming from and what he or she is doing. Attempts at explanation are met with hostility; especially if the person is a young black man, he is frisked, which often involves an invasive search of his pockets; in some cases the officers then detain the person in a police van." | Describing a typical encounter outside a Bronx clean halls building based on testimony in the hearing, Scheindlin wrote: "The police suddenly materialize, stop the person, demand identification, and question the person about where he or she is coming from and what he or she is doing. Attempts at explanation are met with hostility; especially if the person is a young black man, he is frisked, which often involves an invasive search of his pockets; in some cases the officers then detain the person in a police van." |
| "While it may be difficult to say where, precisely, to draw the line between constitutional and unconstitutional police encounters. Such a line exists, and the NYPD has systematically crossed it when making trespass stops outside Tap buildings in the Bronx," she added. Scheindlin came down hard on NYPD training practices, writing that evidence presented in the case "strengthens the conclusion that the NYPD's inaccurate training has taught officers the following lesson: stop and question first, develop reasonable suspicion later". | |
| Whether at an apartment building or on a city street, interactions with law enforcement can have longstanding consequences, particularly in the case of an unlawful arrest. McGregor Smyth, managing attorney with Bronx Defenders and a lead counsel in the clean halls suit, told the Guardian: "We know from long experience and from representing thousands of clients that a wrongful arrest can cost innocent people their jobs, their homes and even the possibility of citizenship. There are long-term and permanent penalties that arise from even the most minor interaction with the police." | Whether at an apartment building or on a city street, interactions with law enforcement can have longstanding consequences, particularly in the case of an unlawful arrest. McGregor Smyth, managing attorney with Bronx Defenders and a lead counsel in the clean halls suit, told the Guardian: "We know from long experience and from representing thousands of clients that a wrongful arrest can cost innocent people their jobs, their homes and even the possibility of citizenship. There are long-term and permanent penalties that arise from even the most minor interaction with the police." |
| Describing the feeling of clients living in clean halls housing, Smyth added: "They feel like they live in buildings under siege, not by crime but by a police department that's out of control." | Describing the feeling of clients living in clean halls housing, Smyth added: "They feel like they live in buildings under siege, not by crime but by a police department that's out of control." |
| The ultimate outcome of Tuesday's ruling and the ongoing cases surrounding NYPD stop-and-frisk practices remains to be seen. | The ultimate outcome of Tuesday's ruling and the ongoing cases surrounding NYPD stop-and-frisk practices remains to be seen. |
| Leonard Levitt, author of NYPD Confidential, said Tuesday's ruling was "not a cataclysmic thing by itself". He predicts the city will downplay Scheindlin's ruling and appeal to the New York's low murder rate as a sign that stop-and-frisk tactics are effective. | Leonard Levitt, author of NYPD Confidential, said Tuesday's ruling was "not a cataclysmic thing by itself". He predicts the city will downplay Scheindlin's ruling and appeal to the New York's low murder rate as a sign that stop-and-frisk tactics are effective. |
| "The problem is, there's a large segment of the population that doesn't go along with her," he said, noting the diverging opinions on stop and frisk in New York City. A Quinnipiac University poll published in August found the city divided over stop and frisk along racial lines, with 57% of white city voters approving of the NYPD tactic, compared to just 25% of African American voters. In all likelihood New Yorkers should not expect to see substantive changes in stop-and-frisk policy until after the mayoral election this November, Levitt argued. "The game changer is going to be not with her decision, but with a new election," he said. | "The problem is, there's a large segment of the population that doesn't go along with her," he said, noting the diverging opinions on stop and frisk in New York City. A Quinnipiac University poll published in August found the city divided over stop and frisk along racial lines, with 57% of white city voters approving of the NYPD tactic, compared to just 25% of African American voters. In all likelihood New Yorkers should not expect to see substantive changes in stop-and-frisk policy until after the mayoral election this November, Levitt argued. "The game changer is going to be not with her decision, but with a new election," he said. |
| Still, the veteran police reporter believes Scheindlin's ruling and the ongoing litigation could bring real challenges for the police department. "It definitely is the beginning of trouble for the NYPD with stop and frisk. They're going to have do some changing." | Still, the veteran police reporter believes Scheindlin's ruling and the ongoing litigation could bring real challenges for the police department. "It definitely is the beginning of trouble for the NYPD with stop and frisk. They're going to have do some changing." |
| "They don't go down easy here," he added, "but it's the beginning of something important." | "They don't go down easy here," he added, "but it's the beginning of something important." |