Although I do not believe in stop and frisk, I do have to say I understand its purpose. Instead of putting away criminals after they’ve possibly murdered many people and robbed a store, you catch them before they have a chance to act. This preventative measure has put away close to a thousand criminals who could have done a lot of damage to families, and individuals.
However, the negatives definitely weigh out the positives. Firstly, this policy brings about the ability of the police force to use their judgement on who they believe is suspicious. So you’re telling me, the police know exactly who is a murderer and who isn’t, just by looking at their behavior, mannerisms, and overall appearance? That’s a great trick that only has worked about 2% of the time. If I got that grade on a test, I would be pretty upset. This policy really only leads to racial profiling in my opinion, which statistically is proven by the high percentage of minority stopped and frisked.
Another issue I have with stop and frisk is the assumptions it makes about people. I know it is illegal in NYC to carry around a gun, but who says that gun carrier had any intention of using it? Maybe it’s something they carry around illegally for protective measures. Although this is a paranoid outlook, because the police are supposed to protect the people of the city, there are many who do this. And those people technically aren’t criminals; dangerous, yes, but they aren’t doing anything morally wrong. This policy seems like a mind-reading technique to bully around its people and scare them into doing the right thing. The police can’t predict the future, so why are we giving them that super power?
