The Rev, Al Sharpton and other opponents of the city’s controversial stop-and-frisk policies are planning a Father’s Day march down Fifth Ave. calling for an end to the tactic.
“We are not against fighting crime, but it is a crime when 85% of the people stopped in a city are of color,” Sharpton said Tuesday, surrounded by elected officials, union leaders and community activists in a downtown Manhattan conference room.
“It is a crime when you are targeted by race.”
The NYPD made a record 685,724 stops last year.
A recent New York Civil Liberties Union report found that 42% of those stopped were black or Latino males between the ages of 14 and 24, a group that makes up 5% of the city’s population.
“Stop and frisk has become synonymous with a massive racial profiling program in this city,” NAACP President Benjamin Jealous said Tuesday.
The NYPD has consistently denied racial profiling, arguing that it targets those who commit crimes. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly called the practice a “life-saving tactic” last month.
“NYPD stops coincide with a new low in murder,” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said in a statement, noting that the city is on track this year to break 2009’s record low of 471 homicides.
Critics point out that despite the drop in murders, shooting incidents are up 7.6% so far this year, and the number of people shot has jumped 5.9% compared with the same period last year.
Jealous and other leaders dispute the idea that stop and frisks are responsible for a reduction in crime, noting that 88% of people stopped last year were not ticketed or arrested.
(Source: NY Daily News)
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6 Responses
It would have more of an impact on Rev Al’s community if on father’s day, he would urge all the fathers to take responsibility for their children and establish strong family ties. Part of the cause of the violence in his community and the need for stop and frisk is the fractured family life among his community members.
Intact traditional families with working parents would go a long way to end the cycle of violence, Rev Al. He has his priorities wrong.
A Father’s Day march!?!?!
What’s he trying to do, confuse the masses?
The Al Sharpton should leave our Police alone. Maybe he would better service the community by making a fathers day march asking those fathers in the black community to be there for their children. Mayor Cory Booker in Newark did that, but thats because he’s a real guy, but Mr. Sharpton is just a hack.
Now that he realizes the trayvon Martin case is turning into another tawana Bradley for him. He’s onto his next hoax.
Sooo… Its Sharpton vs Bloomberg in this latest showdown. I’m not sure which one of them I loath more.
Why do people use the title “the Rev” about him? Just because he adorns himself with it, is that a reason to go along? If he called himself “professor” or “the wise” would everyone follow suit? He is not reverend person at all; on the contrary, he’s despicable. Why not call him “The Desp. Al Sharpton”?