Bloomberg Admits Wrongdoing With Stop and Frisk

While Michael Bloomberg defended Stop and Frisk as a necessary tool to reduce crime in NYC, he did say that police interactions with innocent people who have been stopped and frisked has not been good. As John Leland from the New York Times Reports:

"Speaking at the Christian Cultural Center in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn, he reminded hundreds of parishioners that violent crime has dropped during his tenure in office, in part because of the practice. But he acknowledged that the police could handle the interactions with more courtesy.

“If you’ve done nothing wrong, you deserve noting but respect and courtesy from the police,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “Police Commissioner Kelly and I both believe we can do a better job in this area — and he’s instituted a number of reforms to do that.”

Sunday there was a big Stop and Frisk March in Harlem. A number of people went out and marched, from labor unions, other community groups, and occupiers. Its pretty significant that Bloomberg has admitted in public that it is insulting when an innocent person is not only stopped and frisked, but given a hard time by the police. That causes friction between the police and the community, ultimately making policing harder, which is good for the criminals. So, it will be nice to see what changes occur because of this, and if the police when they do stop the wrong person, in the future if they apologize and handle the matter better. The issue is not a simple matter. Obviously no one likes being a victim of crime, and yes, better policing (among other things) has substantially reduced crime in NYC. At the same time, just because someone lives in a poor neighborhood doesn't make them a criminal and no one should be treated as a criminal because of economic status, race, or ethnicity.