Mayor Bloomberg's sudden appreciation of polls is quite interesting, considering he usually tends to discard them as useless and unrepresentative. For what it’s worth, most of our viewers -- through our snap polls and our calls – disagreed, saying the Stop, Question and Frisk policy tends to discriminate against New Yorkers. More of your thoughts below.

A federal judge said today there is "overwhelming evidence" the NYPD's Stop, Question and Frisk program has led to thousands of unlawful stops. Judge Shira Scheindlin's decision allows anyone who was stopped and frisked since 2005 to be a plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing the police of discriminating against blacks and Hispanics.

The NYPD reports 203,000 street stops were made in the first three months of the year. Mayor Bloomberg didn't comment on the lawsuit today, but did defend the controversial program. The Mayor said, "My understanding is the polls show overwhelming support by the public for the tactics that we've been using to bring down crime." Do you agree?

Do you support the NYPD's tactics to lower crime? What's your reaction to the judge granting this lawsuit class action status? Have you or has someone you know been stopped by police for questioning?

Send your thoughts using the link above.

I dislike crime as much as anyone else but stopping people who might have done something based on nothing by physical appearance is wrong wrong! The is america and you should be able to go about your business without interference as long as you're not violating any laws.

Teri
Jackson Heights

What evidence does the Judge have that has led her to believe that thousands of stops were unlawful. Why is it that this lawsuit only goes back to 2005? How did the Judge come up with that decision? By no means am I never in favor of whatever Bloomberg does at all.

Deep down I do believe that since he has no legacy to leave he does seem to be concentrating solely on Law Enforcement of every kind.

Personally I feel that if no one has anything to hide and is abiding by the law they should have no fear of being stopped providing it's done with respect to the one being stopped.

Maxxiee
Morris Park

I support it. I believe it should continue to be tracked, and I do support the tactics. Unless someone can come up with another plan or tactic this has shown to work. Also I leave in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn and much of the crime that is conducted is by Hispanic and blacks. There is no profiling when the majority of crimes which are committed are done by Hispanics and Blacks in the city. Sad but the truth.

This is one where I have to go along with Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly -- the plaintiffs, and the political opposition to Stop And Frisk want to take us back to where the city was in the 1980s, with homicides in the four-figure range and many streets too dangerous to use after dark. They can go back there if they want, but leave the rest of us alone.

Bruce
Upper West Side

The Stop and Frisk policy is meant to make Blacks and Hispanics feel even more uncomfortable living in this city. Blacks only make up a small percentage of the population in this city at this point, but along with Hispanics make up the majority of most stop and frisks. The underlining statement Bloomberg and Kelly are making with this policy is that a certain portion of this city are predisposed to crime and have to be watched more aggressively. This on top of the woeful education Black and Hispanic children get and the lack of any real jobs out there make it pretty clear that the powers that be do not want certain people living in this city anymore. I'd like to know if they stop and frisk white youths in neighborhoods where crimes occur like they do in the mostly minority neighborhoods, oh wait they don't.

RL
The Bronx

This is great news! Stop and frisk has only given cops the opportunity to harass people of color. Isn't it odd that it's only used in poor neighborhoods! They never use it on the upper west side. Hmmmmm. As far as Bllomberg; he has a tendency to only see what he wants to see, and not look at the whole picture. He also doesn't know how to admit when he's made a mistake!

Barri
Jackson Heights

I support the NYPD's Stop-and-frisk policy. It helps to take the illigal guns/drugs off the street, and yes, its mostly blacks and hispanics that are stopped but that's because its those two races that mostly commit crime.

This is good news, long overdue. NYC’s stop and frisk law is in direct violation of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution which says:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

In short, the police can’t search someone without a warrant. Looking suspicious or looking like a person is up to something, as George Zimmerman said about Trayvon Martin, is not sufficient to stop and frisk a person. It is a clear cut violation of the Constitution.

Joe
Port Richmond

I have a seventeen yr old son who has been stopped and frisked just walking down the block ..because he young and black that's all they see. I'm am very happy this lawsuit is taking place

Danielle
Harlem

i'd like to comment on the story about the nyc stop and frisk campaign. although i don't agree with the program. i like to ask the people who appose,what do we do toget the guns out of our community? what do you suggest?

Last time I was stopped & frisked the cops threw out my pot, gave me back my pipe & sent me on my merry way. I'm white & I believe if I was not white I would have been arrested. This was in Hells Kitchen. P.S. They had no Probable Cause for the search.

J
Forest Hills

No I don't support the NYPD as it relates to stop and frisk. Entirely too many stereotypes still floating around. Finally someone has taken notice of the unfair treatment of minority men. And yes I know men who have been stopped and frisked on false pretenses -- walking while black. I have a nephew 28 years old 6.4 who won't even admire a luxury car up close for fear of being stopped by the police and arrested for attempted theft -- SMH. Its a shame.

Valerie
Midland Beach

I absolutely support the NYC police tactics of "stop & frisk"! We live in a very different world post 9/11. Public safety must always come first and foremost. Legislatures should work to amend the Constitution if necessary. I say stop and frisk away!!! Stop and frisk me personally. Just keep this City safe!

Dennis
Hamilton Heights

It is unconstitutional and racist. For one thing those colored people don't own the guns to illegaly trade. Neither do they own the planes to ship that amount of drugs in. target tge right people. You destroy the nest not the pest

Julien
East New York

Why don’t we pull ALL the cops out of all the black and hispanic neighborhoods for one month, and see what happens to the crime, shooting, and murder rates for those areas; I’d bet the numbers would surpass the national debt figures. As an alternative to no police for those areas, lets let the Sharptons and Jacksons, etc. who always talk big and loud, but do nothing, patrol those areas instead—they’d probably be afraid to.

Walter
New Dorp

Councilman Vallone get I hope you do not get vote back in. Why do whites think it ok for black to be stop. Black cops should stop all white. Kelly and Bloomberg should be impeach. I am a woman pastor and I also have been stop.

IF PEOPLE ARE ACTING SUSPICIOUS THEN STOP AND FRISK SHOULD APPLIED BUT TO STOP SOMEONE FOR NO REASON AT ALL ITS SIMPLY WRONG

Pedro
Bronx

for me i think be nyp in new york york now is about to make money and rasiste than keep the city safty

Durand
Queens

The mayor and commissioner are not above the law. They both should not be indemnified and should pay civilly for their disgressions against the supreme law of the land. The fourth amendment is very simple to understand but due to the arrogance of this NYC regime, they say the hell with the constitution if our policy reduces guns or weapons on the street.

Crispus Attucks, a Black man was the first to die in the Revolution. Racism then and racism now

The mayor and commisioner devised this hyper "stop and frisk" policy as a way to instill enough fear in black/ latino men. whereas, they wouldn' t consider breaking the law in respect

Fear has been used to exploit the fearful in this city, and fear is the tactic used to thwart crime before it occurs.

K
Harlem

To respond to Walter: the expert in the CCR lawsuit found that even when adjusting for crime rates and police resources, race is the primary factor determining NYPD stops. It's race, not crime rates, that impact who is stopped.

Sunita Patel
Center for Constitutional Rights

Of course this is a racist, unconstitutional practice, but what the heck do you expect from a man who bought his illegal third term? Morals? Integrity? Give me a break. Stop and Frisk is as bad as making Jews wear yellow stars.

Frances
East Village

I think we should fine any cop that does it one more time, and throw the anti-American cop in jail for 45 days for each offense.

The mayor and commissioners should be forced to pay every person that was violated by the Anti-American cops.

The mayor should be thrown in jail for 45 days for failing to control the Anti-American cops.

I believe that this program has racial undertones due to the fact that the majority of the people who are stop are of African and Hispanic descent. If the numbers were equal across the board I then believe that no questions regarding this program would be raised. But based upon Mr Bloomberg and Mr Kelly's racial bias they believe that only these people have access to guns and drugs thru out the city.

David
Brooklyn

We can lower crime even more. We can have checkpoints, random searches of our bodies and our homes, mandatory drug tests, loyalty oaths, and thought crimes. If we really wanted to, we could imprison almost everyone. There's a reason we don't do that, and that same reason is why the stop and frisk policy is a horrible abuse.

Jordan
Flushing

I'm white, have no criminal record, and I don't feel safe around the police. Every time I attempt to get some kind of information from one of them, even directions, I am met with a surly attitude. As a whole, they have become far too powerful, a scenario that is all too reminiscent of Nazi-occupied Europe. The national security excuse is the same one implemented by countless totalitarian regimes to rid their society of undesirables. Now it is becoming ours.

Keith
Inwood

Since Brown v. Education, the idea of separation was to end, but in the inner cities of New York, Black and Latinos as compared to whites are six more times subject to stop and frisk tactics. Whites are still privileged and the so-called arm of the law use separatists' ideas in who they stop and frisk. Is then separation between white and black more probable? I never asked yo be born IM America and my ancestors were forced to come here. Perhaps dividing up this country between us and whites is the right answer because there isms no other solution.

As an officer I strongly do not agree with this policy, as I see African Americans and Hispanics being the ones who are stopped and frisked the most by other officers at my command. When I first became a police officer in this city, I thought that it was a good tactic to combat crime, but the unfortunate truth is that I see this tactic being abused all the time, mostly due to fill monthly quotas set forth by the upper ranks. It is something that I would like to see changed, or better yet, to be completely eliminated. I know it is not right, and would like to believe that the other officers I work with think that way as well, but when you got the bosses constantly putting pressure on our backs to bring up our activity, you can clearly see how easy this tactic can be used, or better yet, abused to facilitate an arrest. New Yorkers that think this is a good policy/tactic to fight back crime should come to their senses, or walk the streets of my precinct and see how much they like being constantly harassed and embarrassed every time I or one of my fellow officers rolls up to them.

I applauded the judge's decision. This policy has become excessive and abusive, and it leads to racial profiling. Why aren't well dressed Caucasian male get stop and frisk?

I attended a predominantly White college in the city, and many of my Caucasian class mates, goes into parts of the city and purchase drugs, which is brought back to campus, and no one stops them.

It's not true, that this method or policy reduces crime, look at the numbers of stop and frisk, and how many lead to an arrest. This policy creates stress on minorities, and causes a division in the city.

Kevin
The Bronx

The caller Robert was ill-informed and got that ignorant viewpoint out to the public. Blacks and Hispanics commit the most crimes is absolutely incorrect. Let me set the record straight for people who believe that racist propaganda:

Ok, since we're going to go there, how about I add a few statistics that I've found and clarify things:

A majority of black (53%) and Hispanic (54%) prisoners were sentenced for violent offenses, compared to about half (50%) of white prisoners. Blacks and Hispanics were more likely than whites to be sentenced for drug offenses (23% of blacks, 21% of Hispanics, and 15% of whites). Whites were more likely (26%) than blacks (18%) or Hispanics (18%) to be sentenced for property offenses."

"most current illicit drug users are white. There were an estimated 9.9 million whites (72 percent of all users), 2.0 million blacks (15 percent), and 1.4 million Hispanics (10 percent) who were current illicit drug users in 1998." And yet, blacks constitute 36.8% of those arrested for drug violations, over 42% of those in federal prisons for drug violations. African-Americans comprise almost 58% of those in state prisons for drug felonies.

Among persons convicted of drug felonies in state courts, whites were less likely than African-Americans to be sent to prison. Thirty-three percent (33%) of convicted white defendants received a prison sentence, while 51% of African-American defendants received prison sentences.

"Since 1997, 16 states have implemented reforms to their felony disenfranchisement policies
"These reforms have resulted in the restoration of voting rights to an estimated 621,400 persons. In 2004, 1 in 12 African Americans was disenfranchised because of a felony conviction, a rate nearly five times that of non-African Americans
"Voting is linked with reduced recidivism; one study shows that 27 percent of non-voters were rearrested, compared with 12 percent of voters"

In 1986, before mandatory minimums for crack offenses became effective, the average federal drug offense sentence for blacks was 11% higher than for whites. Four years later following the implementation of harsher drug sentencing laws, the average federal drug offense sentence was 49% higher for blacks.

Regardless of similar or equal levels of illicit drug use during pregnancy, black women are 10 times more likely than white women to be reported to child welfare agencies for prenatal drug use.

Among traffic stops of young male drivers in 2002, 11% were physically searched or had their vehicle searched by police. Among these young male drivers who were stopped, blacks (22%) and Hispanics (17%) were searched at higher rates than whites (8%).
White drivers were more likely than both black and Hispanic drivers to be stopped by police for speeding. Subsequent to being stopped for speeding, blacks (78%) and Hispanics (85%) were more likely than whites (70%) to receive a ticket. Blacks often through socio-economic status cannot afford good defense attorneys.

And please note that the majority of serial killers are white middle aged men. Where is the stop and frisk for them?

In conclusion, before you spew ignorance - know your facts.

I guess Mayor Bloomberg only cares about what the polls show in relation to the policy of Stop, Question and Frisk. Because he sure doesn't listen to the poll numbers when they clearly show that the public is overwhelmingly against his education policy and his notorious school closures.

Lisa
Upper East Side

I think its sad they have to pull the race card on this... We have a black president for goodness sake!!! That means the majority is FOR the minorities... Not against. I absolutely agree with stop question and frisk... I would gladly waste a few minutes to speak to an officer and in return get to walk down my block without fear. All the dealers and trouble makers are inside because they know the cops are out there and they aren't playing games.

Life is about learning patterns and patterns show local criminals dress, talk and act in certain ways. If you behave or dress that way... Then stop it or don't complain about being judged.

Remember the 90's and early 2000 when walking down an inner city block meant you have to be whistled at and degraded by a bunch of no lives.
Give to get... Give a few seconds to gain a safe neighborhood.

I believe the stop and frisks are necessary to do police business but it unfairly targets individuals with innocuous behavior. Officers don't articulate the reasons they are stopping people and immediately go to frisking and searching them. Any person would be defensive and scared. Blacks and Latinos do commit the most crimes by statistics but they are also the most falsely accused groups. As an investigator of police misconduct, I see both sides of the coin but I still feel that a clothing style or neighborhood is not indicative of criminality. Officers should communicate more to help civilians understand what is going on. Officers are pressured and sometimes do it because they have to, not because they want to.

Dimples

The economic situation is an excuse for many young people to break the law to rob, stalk working people to satisfy their need for money. You really have to be aware of your surroundings. Stop + frisk may work where criminals are apprehended in tthe act of criminal activity

Robert from rego park hit it right on the head. As a nuyorican. (New yorker born of puerto rican descent) raised in the wagner and mckinley housing projects I know a lot of guys who are baggy jean hoodie wearing outright goons. And I seen with my own eyes these "criminal minded" kids who rape, rob and kill innocents and each other do some of the things they are stereotyped of doing. Now that doesn't mean you are a bad guy if you wear a hoodie and baggy jeans just like it means you might not be a squeaky clean upstanding citizen if you make six figure salaries and have an office job. Think of all the drug busts cops would make if stop and frisks were evenly distributed. I worked a long time in the private sector and how many sweater vest wearing greenwich types offered me dope at office parties. I'm pro-cop and I want them to stop everybody.

Jimmy
The Bronx

I'd like to know how many of the NYPD are actually minorities themselves???

I believe the statistics you present are wrong and misrepresent the facts. You need to do the analysis by separate neighborhoods and look at the racial mix, the amount of crime, the number of those frisked, and number of those found guilty. Then compare the statistics across the different neighborhoods. If there are too many police in mostly black neighborhoods, reducing the police numbers will reduce the frisks but will it increase the crime thus defeating the neighborhood and it's good citizens

I believe that this police tactic is not right especially when the majority who are being stopped and frisked are minorities. The media & the politics hype up that this is lowering crime. This claim is false. This is another way of putting blacks and Latinos in place.

Cely
Parkchester

We have the technology to stop and frisk without physically touching anyone, we can use mobile versions of the airport security machines setup as mobile checkpoint for everyone.

I believe the stop and frisk is an illegal search and seizure and it goes ag as inst my constitutional rights.we are supposed yo be a democracy not a fascist country.these are things that were done during Hitlers reign over germany.

I'm a latin male and I agree with this policy. If it was 18-35 white males creating most crimes then they would be stopped and frisked instead of latin/black males. The truth of the matter is that cops are targeting latin/black males because they mostly live in high crime neighborhoods.

Jeff
Brooklyn

Something that works should be left alone. Statistics prove that it works and takes guns, drugs and purps off the street. If they don't target the guilty who are they going to target. There is nothing racial about it just reality. People must stop being afraid off the truth.

Jordan
Whitestone

The prime justification for Stop & Frisk, that it caused the drop in the murder rate, can't be true as the murder rate fell prior to the great increase in S&F and has been relatively stable since.

Does the issue truly represent a race based decision or is it a consequence of location based crime control? I would assume that more stop and frisks occur in areas that are deemed more dangerous, and as a coincidence, the population that reside in that area may represent a specific minority group. In my opinion, I believe that the objective of the stop and frisk is to potentially decrease gun crimes in high risk areas. The amount of stops done in those areas incidentally affect the specific group living there AND NOT an intentional violation of rights based on a specific race.

Alex

Stop and Frisk may have been started with good intentions. I feel it is being abused by police officers for more overtime. More importantly it is dividing our community. Stop the fear, Stop the hate. We all are innocent until proven guilty!

Jacob

I am a Hispanic 35 yr old Man from New York city. I support the action from the NYPD. If you have nothing to hide it shouldnt be a problem. They could stop me as long as they are Respectful, i dont have a problem. At the same time, they SHOULD have stricter laws against police who are making false arrests. It should work both ways. You can stop me but if They should crack down on crooked cops. These stops will make criminals ghink twice. This has lowered the crime rate. If you have nothing to hide, it shouldnt be a problem. When we change the heart of the people we change the land.

Edgard in Staten Island

Sorry, I am a White Male 34 from Rochester NY moved here in 99'. I have lived in Williamsburg's for 10 years a few blocks from some projects. Never have I felt I have needed a gun! This is wrong from every angle. We as a society can do better than this. There is always another option. People really need to stop using fear and hate as an example to why they agree to allow things to happen.

Jacob

I believe that any arbitrary assault on a persons liberty as American is tragic. To have it in large scale by the police is catastrophic. The idea to serve and protect is a concept both valoric and absolute in its simple fairness. When justice is not blind it is not justice. look at the numbers; the same faces all the time ; that means that thwir,are targets. We need governance and not rule.

LaShawn

THE LAWSUIT IS NOT GOING TO MAKE ALL THESE PEOPLE RICH BUT ITS SURE GOING TO MAKE THE POLICE THINK BEFORE THEY STOP.

PEDRO
BRONX

The judge should not allow any of the lawyers to benefit from one penny from this lawsuit. The class action lawsuit should be against the lawyers who bring forth class action lawsuits. New Yorkers entrusted Bloomberg to run NYC. Let him do his job.

Damond