Data Shows Small % of NYPD Stops Pose Serious Threats

Despite the high percentages of minorities frisked among the hundreds of thousands stopped and questioned by the NYPD, the Daily News reports that very few are getting hit with any charges with ones as serious as criminal possession of a weapon accounting for just a fraction of those arrested. Their latest analysis comes from data released by the Center for Constitution Rights as part of their lawsuit accusing the NYPD of racial profiling. The News talks to one college student of mixed race who was stopped because the officer said he "looked like he had a gun on him" and his charges of disorderly conduct stemming from what the cop deemed "furtive actions" and "inappropriate attire" were eventually dropped when the officer failed to show up to a court date. NYPD spokeman Paul Browne defended the stop to arrest ratio saying, "Twenty individuals may be stopped and briefly questioned because they fit the general description. But only one [and maybe none] is eventually arrested."