> In 2011, in New York City, 685,724 people were stopped, 84 percent of whom were Black and Latino residents — although they comprise only about 23 percent and 29 percent of New York City’s total population respectively. 2011 is the highest year on record for stops. The number of stops represent an over 600 percent since Mayor Bloomberg came into office. In 2011, 88 percent of all stops did not result in an arrest or a summons being given. Contraband was found in only 2 percent of all stops. The NYPD claims their stop and frisk policy keeps weapons off the street – but weapons were recovered in only one percent of all stops. [1]
Just the sheer number of stops is pretty crazy. That's an average of almost 1,900 stops per day, which makes the 1% of stops that recover a weapon a substantial number, as well.
This is very dangerous thinking. It shows a mentality that views "Will it catch criminals?" as the watermark for whether to give the state more power. That should not be the only consideration. State power tends to expand itself, and needs to be watched constantly. At some point, it is better to let guilty men go free than to open the Pandora's Box of giving the state enough power to catch them.
