Statement of Rob Varenik, Tigran Eldred,
Human Rights First Policing Program,
on New York City “Stop and Frisk” Bill

The pending City Council bill Int. No. 910A requiring the Police Department and the mayor to disclose information about police actions is a start, but it’s not enough.  The areas covered by the bill – “stop and frisk” encounters between the police and city residents – have been at the center of the debate about policing in this city, and should be of interest to all New Yorkers. Human Rights First believes that the Department and the City would be better served by full disclosure of relevant information rather than the Police Department “summaries” that the bill would require.    

Police stops of civilians represent one of the most fundamental intrusions into the comings and goings of individuals.  They are necessary to prevent and detect crime.  But the question of how and when the police should perform those stops has become a matter of great contention.  The office of the State Attorney General has concluded that the police stop African Americans and Latinos to a disproportionate degree; the city and the Police Department have hotly contested that claim.  In particular the Department claims that stop and frisk patterns reflect the complaints about criminal activity that they receive. Unfortunately, the bill does not require the Department to say whether the stops are initiated by the officers or are responses to specific complaint information.  The best way to set the record straight, and decide what, if anything, should be changed, is to bring such data to light, unfiltered by the Department or anyone else.    

Studies of stop and frisk practices have also found that police do not report many of these encounters, a problem that the bill does not address.  A better alternative would mandate steps to ensure that this information does not continue to be underreported.