Minorities More Likely to Be Searched by NYPD

New York cops are nine times more likely to stop and search blacks and Latinos than whites, often citing nebulous “furtive movements” to justify pat-downs, the New York Times reported May 13.

The arrest rate among individuals subjected to “stop and frisk” searches was no higher among minorities than whites. About 490,000 blacks and Latinos were searched in 2009, compared to 53,000 whites. The arrest rate was about 6 percent among both blacks and whites.

Such searches have grown far more common under current police commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. The searches led to 34,000 arrests, 762 gun seizures, and confiscation of more than 6,000 other weapons. Police used force in about a quarter of the stops, and were more likely to do so in encounters with blacks and Latinos than whites.

Few officers justified their searches by saying that subjects matched the description of suspected criminals.

Police officials said that the tactics have forced many criminals to leave their guns home. “These are not unconstitutional,” said NYPD spokesperson Paul J. Browne. “We are saving lives, and we are preventing crime.”

However, criminal-justice experts said there’s no way to determine whether the tactic is preventing crime. Darius Charney of the Center for Constitutional Rights said, “These stats suggest that racial disparities in who gets stopped has more to do with officer bias and discretion than with crime rates, which is what the Police Department argues.”