684,330 stops seems overboard to me. I would like to know, why the increase from 2010? And what does that mean for 2012? While I do believe some police-involved shootings are isolated incidents, I also feel the record number of stops, questions, and frisks has to be negatively impacting the way certain communities view police officers. They do not trust or respect officers, which could mean they're more likely to run or open fire on a cop than obey orders.

Police officers stopped and questioned a record 684,330 people on the streets of New York City last year. That's a 14% increase from 2010. The stops resulted in arrests 6% of the time, and summonses another 6%. Of those stopped, 92% were men and 87% of those men were black or Hispanic.

The news comes as police were involved in another shooting around 4:15 this afternoon in Harlem. Details are still emerging, but it appears an officer and a suspect were both shot in the subway at St. Nicholas Avenue and 145th Street. It's the latest in a series of deadly police-involved shootings in recent weeks.

What's your reaction to the record number of so-called "stop and frisks" last year? Is it a policy that contributes to low crime rates, or does it unfairly target innocent New Yorkers? How concerned are you about the recent spate of shootings, and is enough being done to prevent similar incidents?

Send your thoughts using the link above.

As a retired NYPD Detective I believe I am an expert on theirs matter. The question is not the stop but who is being stopped and why they are being stopped . Most cops just stop people because for example it's after 12 mid night. Or better yet because there is a known quota system for teams of cops to fill out as many as fifty uf 250 forms (stop question and frisk forms) a night as possible. The truth is if you are a young black male in NYC your parents would be better off to move you out of NYC.
when the Binladins of the world begin to exploit this mistrust then we will all have a different view of the stop and frisk policy.

Archibald

stop and frisk is about reminding people who has the power, and about putting certain targeted populations in their place. We live in a police state, and the cops literally get away with murder.

meryl from manhattan

I don't think the stop and frisk policy is the problem if properly used. What happens is the current policy leads to police officers improperly searching people who are not aware of their rights or are so afraid they surrender those rights in exchange for the thought of surviving the encounter with police.

Here's a solution. For each stop and frisk, police officers should have to call it in before its inception and once the stop and frisk is over the person questioned should receive a control number written down on a card bearing the police officers badge number. Then individuals can check to see if the stop was a legitimate stop that was called in.

Carla

You will never understand how the cops treat black people. They are racist and run new York like thugs.

I get stopped for no reason. I am a hard working law abiding African American tax paying non criminal new Yorker. Cops stop me for being black.

It's very very very I repeat very painful.

James
Harlem

I think it help in places that are high in crime... but when the police let them go & they are on parole, two time felony with a gun ( glock) & crack cocaine that test positive, what good do it do? bonita from south jamaica

Bonita

I am a white nyc resident born and raised here. I work here and chose to raise my family here. There are so many wrongs in this argument. Stop and frisk does work but at what cost. The NYPD has alienated the public but let's not blame the cop. It is the department that is to blame, the lack of training or support for patrol. Only the elite units get training funds. The uniformed cops feel abandoned and are more often than not frustrated arrogant tough guys towards the public. They also have quotas and use stops for summons. It is not a black and white issue, they are rude and arrogant towards all especially young people and drivers. They want the easy busts to get off the street and they can't accept the fact the public resents lazy arrogance. PS I'm a conservative, pro cop anti department.

PJE056

One caller stated that crime doesn't occur in some neighborhoods. I beg to differ. There is crime in every neighborhood but we just focus on some crimes and prosecute some crimes and turn a blind eye to others. We go after those who are poor and do not have the resources to challenge the status quo.

Leslie-Ann

The NYPD wants to spout numbers and say they reduced a large percentage of the crime. You in the show failed to mention that 87 percent of those stopped and frisked were black and Latino and only 9 or twelve percent of those were arrested so am I to believe that 9 percent committed 60 percent of the crime in the city... I'm not that good in math but the numbers don't seem to add up

Francisco

The police are doing a great job.

If you are not doing anything wrong you should not be afraid of getting frisked.

If you read the papers or watch the news if is always a black or hispanic doing crimes with guns.

I believe in frisking.

Dpumpkin

Nypd stop and frisk program not only focuses on guns, it also focuses on preventing crime. For instance if an individual is acting in a suspicious manner, he or she may be stopped and questioned, not necessarily frisked. This may have prevented a crime. This "prevented" crime cannot be measured.

The police respond to crime statistics and crime reports, not the color of your skin.
Stop, question and frisks are up, crime is down. Do the math!

Kerry

I guess the people that have been stopped and frisked and have no association with crime or criminals for that matter, are nothing but collateral damage?

K
Harlem

Of course it doesn't work. Just look at the numbers - arrests just 6 percent of the time. Those are bad odds to use as an excuse to humiliate and terrify men of color. I once saw 2 cops stop 3 black kids just walking down the street and throw them against a wall, taunting them while they were frisked, hoping the kids would do something so they could arrest them. I screamed at the cops but what were they going to do to me, a middle aged white woman? nothing. It makes me sick to be so "privlidged".

Meryl from manhattan

It has to do with their clothes. Every morning I see all races get arrested at Port Authority and they all wear the same thing...baggy jeans.

Isaac

About a year ago i was stop by an officer in the bronx, and long story short he said and i quote, "white is right, and remember that". As a black woman i was very offended. If you allow the stop and frisk to happen, there will be a racial war within 5 yrs. of the law going into effect because there are racist police on the force.

Rashema
Queens

I support the NYPD and the great job that they are doing. Anything to prevent and deter crime. Only people living in a high crime neighborhood are the ones complaining.

NELINIK

I agree with the police. Latinos and blacks should be stopped and frisked. Get guns off the street.

Derrick from Flushing, NY

most of these offenses result only in low level drug arrests.....often with traumatic results
I work with youth who live in the South Bronx.

EVERY WEEK, I encounter at least one student who arrives at school after he has been stopped and frisked on his way to school.

These young men are frequently then asked to go through a metal detector to enter school. then these kids are expected to arrive at school ready to learn.

BTW, these are the same kids who are attending the schools that the mayor wants to close. STOP FRISKING STUDENTS!

billy,
mott haven

After hearing all the people complaining about blacks and latinos being stopped too often, here’s an idea, let’s pull all the cops out of all the black and latino neighborhoods so they no longer will be stopped and frisked. After a few weeks, let’s see if the crime rate in these areas decreases. I think after just a few days the residents will be screaming to bring the cops back. And where are the parents??? How about every parent living in these high crime areas spend one day thoroughly searching their entire house for guns that their “children” might be hiding, and then turning the weapons in.

Britt
Manhattan

i believe if you look suspicious of something that should stop you because little that you know a cop just stopped a crime from happening and a life is save because because a cop used good judgement

John

as a NYC Police Officer, I believe the SQF is essential in the deterrence and prevention of crime, This have nothing to do with race, despite what the majority of the minority believe,,,and for the record i am not white ,,,,don't blame cops for doing this unrewarded and underpaid job that most people would not qualify for,,,,

Latch
upper west side

For the random stopping in the street, who cares what color you are, do not play the victim, if your not caring weapons. You should have nothing to worry about.

tygoods

Disagree the the stop and frisk policy 110%

It doesn't work

Not good for police and community relation

85 percent of the blacks and Latinos who have been stopped only under 20 percent were subject to arrest

Im from harlem and cops are constantly in my building they stop me all the time when im going to work school or just going to the corner store

Very rude when they approach you

I wouldn't want my kids growing up in an environment where they cant even trust cops
In their neighborhood

they ask for Id and run a background check which can sometimes take up to 20 mins

majority of people that call in saying they support stop and frisk are not from the neighborhoods that are being targeted most

They often target minorities who wear expensive clothing and sneakers because they assume you're a drug dealer

Messiga

II believe stop & frisk will not do anything more than annoy citizens. For many years NY has been crime ridden and during those times, stop & frisk was huge. It obviously isn't changing a thing so its safe to say that the NYPD needs a different method to combat crime.

Gary

The question is not does it work. It does reduce crime. However, if we randomly searched everyone's home, would that also reduce crime? Would that law be comfortable and fair.

doctorgrannum

The police are doing a great job. If you run away from the police when told to stop you're GUILTY ! If you have nothing to hide then there's no reason to resist the stop, question and frisk! For those community leaders both political and religious who choose to divide and conquer between police and low lives with criminal records, SHAME ON YOU! Let law enforcement do their jobs without having the unnecessary pressure of having to deal with citizens taking sides when we should all work together for the greater good.

David & Anna, Glendale

I totally disagree with this policy working. If you look at all the footage you will notice it's only of the areas where the majority of people are of black or Hispanic descent. I myself am a dominican tax paying designer from Washington Heights. I have been stopped 7 times this year for going to the store. I work in the downtown area and to this day I have not seen anyone going through this. Let's even the playing field, If the police do that to a Jew, Caucasian or other ethnic group they would be in court for civil rights violation. And one more thing they need to touch on is the manner in which it's done. I've been frisked at gun point. I've seen others thrown on the floor face down for no reason, does this sound like a stop and frisk?

Jason

Last year my son was one of those that was stopped 3 times in our neighborhood by the narcotics squad they gave him 2 summons for being out @ 3am the last time the same officer that picked him up the first two times stated 'that he realized that he lived in the neighborhood and when he see them coming walk away!! So your telling me he can't walk in his neighborhood. It is a shame!!!

Schartel

Stop and Frisk Practice, yes has changed the climate in the city by increasing racial tension. It is an illegal practice to stop frisk and search. Commissioner Kelly sent out memo stating that a stop and frisk to remove contents of the pockets is a violation. There has been no admittance to illegal stop, frisk, and search procedure from the police department. Many times kids cannot come out of their buildings “where they live” without being asked for ID and or being stopped and frisked. This is illegal.

Lazette from Manhattan

THEY JUST GO TO WORK TO MAKE A LIVING OFF MESSING UP SOME YOUNG BLACK KIDS LIFE....THEY BEAT WALK ALL DAY, THEY KNOW WHO THE CRIMINALS ARE....AND THEY ARE SCARED TO APPREHINED THE REAL THUGS....WHEN THERE'S SHOOTINGS AND CRIME THEY RUN THE OTHER WAY.....BUT THEY WILL FILL SOME BLACK UNARMED BLACK MAN WITH 21 PLUS SLUGS

Terrence

Though many will disagree with me:

1. I wholeheartedly support the "stop and frisk" because it can and in many instances prevents a criminal act.
2. Unfortunately, most Black or Hispanic persons are stopped because they fit the profile of "someone of interest", and if they are law-abiding, they should be thankful that the officers are doing their jobs.
3. Prevention (stop and frisk) is the best deterrent to stopping the guns, drug and gang violence in our communities.

Liz
Rosedale

S&F procedures can be very effective if conducted with intelligence, meaning, there must be a very valid underlying reason for the stop. I doubt the police stops people randomly, they have techniques to read signs and decide on the action.

Bernard from West Village

I guess no one knows who ARE INNOCENT and who are Guilty,
these are people that the police DON'T KNOW so they have
to do their jobs. Persons can know others and yet don't
know them too, until something comes out about the person
then that shocks you to know that person looks so innocent
and turn out to be a crook.

so the police are doing their jobs !

Ruthann
Queens

Police should not be above the law. Anytime that a police get involved in a shooting, regardless of the results, his blood should be taken and send to a minimum of two different laboratories, to be sure of the mental and physical condition of that police. This is done when a driver or a motorman is involved in an accident. Why are the police treated differently?

Also, any time citizens are detained because to be involved in some questionable activities, they are held incommunicado, to be sure that every person give statement, with no possibilities of concoct a story. Why the police are not treated the same way? In this moment, after about two weeks of a killing of a teenager in the Bronx, there is no known activity in that matter from the District Attorney of that jurisdiction. The members of the NYCPD involved, have had more than enough time to create stories to justify their action. It is evident that the police cannot police itself.

Enrique
Flushing

STOP AND FRISK measures unfairly target people of color! The fear they instill in the community by far outweighs any reduction in crime statistics.

Kia

Over 600,000 warrantless searches. This should lead to the arrest, prosecution and jailing of every cop who has committed one of these “stop and frisk” routines. This is a clear cut invasion of privacy and a violation of the protections provided by the.

Joe
Port Richmond, SI

IT HELPS LET IT GO ON, if there are 50 stops and on gets a gun or felon of the streets we all win

TOM
Richmondtown

The statistics on stop and frisk are quite alarming especially as it applies to the high number of Afro-Americans and Hispanic men that are being stopped, and a 6% arrest rate is not sufficient justification for this racially insensitive policy.

Felix Bay Ridge

I'm sure that stop and frisk does stop some of the crime because we do have to many shootings and other crimes which I have written about before. But it also determines whether they are solely in predominant Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.

I am always e-mailing about so many unnecessary projects that are put on the front burner rather than this Governor and Mayor take care of our important business to make our lives in this city a lot more comfortable so that we can enjoy the good things being done for Manhattan but choose to ignore. They just do things to enhance their own legacies. It is wrong.

We have to many problems in our boroughs and we are like second class citizens in comparison to Manhattan.

I don’t even want to start about the situations in the Public Schools. I must say that I do not believe in any of the polls.

It seems as though they just fudge the figures to try to impress us.

IT HAS BECOME SO BAD THAT PEOPLE ARE TAKING TO THE STREETS AND THAT WILL BECOME VERY DANGEROUS.

WHAT IT ALSO TELLS ME IS THAT YOU CANNOT IGNORE THE CITIZENS OF THIS CITY AND STATE.

WE HAVE OUR RIGHTS AND WE WILL USE THEM.

I BELIEVE ALL OF THE POLITICIANS HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH TO MUCH ALREADY AND IT'S TIME TO START DOING WHAT YOU ALL WERE VOTED IN TO DO.

I WON'T SAY THE ONES I VOTED FOR.

IT'S BECOMING SICKENING.

THEY HAVE ALL STAYED AT THE DANCE TO LONG.

Thank you John,

maxxiee
mp

This may sound contorversal but, maybe there should be cops that are from the community, protecting the community instead of cops form the subburbs or some rich white community where these people have no ethnic exposure.

Harvey

Is there a breakdown anywhere of the type of police units involved in the stop and frisk numbers? I often see undercover squads conducting stops on drivers and pedestrians in my neighborhood and they seem to target a high risk profile but the uniformed cops seem to prefer softer targets, e.g., old men drinking in the park. Are the low hit rates caused by performance quota demands placed on the uniformed units? Are they scared but have to get some numbers and then use innocent people?

I think who makes the stops may be the actual problem with this program.

Thanks,
Donna, Bed-Stuy