NYPDRob, AKA The Reddit Cop returned to the online forum yesterday to answer more questions about his job and the department, and he doesn't disappoint in dropping eye-opening, "man we wish more cops would speak their minds" knowledge. The officer defends stop-and-frisk, as "an excellent tool," writing, "If someone gives me a good description, chances are in a city of 8 million people there are going to be a handful of people who are innocent but still fit that description." more ›

The Bronx DA's office previously announced that the police officers who beat 19-year-old Bronx resident Jateik Reed in January weren't being investigated for committing a crime, despite the fact that authorities dropped the drug-related charges against Reed. That may change now that NY1 has obtained a surveillance tape that shows that police likely did not have reasonable suspicion to stop Reed, contradicting sworn police statements that Reed had bags of drugs that he threw on the ground. more ›

Yesterday, a Manhattan judge convicted twenty activists of disorderly conduct seven months after their arrest at a protest outside a Harlem police precinct last year. The defendants, including Princeton University professor and civil rights activist Cornel West, were among 32 demonstrators purposefully arrested while protesting the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy at an OWS-related rally on October 21. The trial drew national attention for being one of the biggest and most politically charged group trials the city has seen in recent years. more ›

A law professor and a law student at Yale University wrote an op-ed piece in the Times this morning decrying the NYPD's stop-and-frisk program, a program which has come under quite a bit of fire this year. In a piece entitled "Better Ways to Police Than Stop-and-Frisk," James Forman Jr., a clinical professor at Yale Law School, and Trevor Stutz, a third year law student who is a member of Forman's Innovations in Policing Clinic, argued that stopping and frisking random selections of young, predominantly black men is not the only method to decrease violence in minority neighborhoods, nor is it the most effective one. more ›

New York's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is considering whether to release a report on the NYPD's stop-and-frisk practices. A source at Schneiderman's office tells the Daily News that there is a "working group" that is reviewing public data, including the racial breakdown of those who are stopped. Documents obtained by the paper also show that Schneiderman has met twice in the last several months with his staff to discuss stop-and-frisk. "They're still very early in the process," the source said. more ›

Speaking to his BFF Mike Lupica about the shooting of four police officers in Brooklyn on Sunday, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly expressed frustration that illegal weapons like the ones used by the perpetrator in the incident continued to pour into the city. “These are the guns that are turning our city into a shooting gallery. We had three cops shot last year. This year we’ve had eight shot already, and it’s only Easter," Kelly said. "I’m tired of this!” more ›

Several hundred Occupy Wall Street protesters are currently on a winding march from Zuccotti Park to Union Square to protest NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, the department's stop-and-frisk program and the recent spates of violence committed by officers against demonstrators. At least three people have been arrested so far for refusing to leave the street, and while the "scooter cops" in the photo above may be a gag, the NYPD's presence at the march appears to be rapidly growing. more ›

Dozens of protesters gathered in Foley Square this afternoon and marched to 1 Police Plaza to demand that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly tender his resignation. The protest was spurred by the string of violent arrests made by the NYPD as protesters attempted to reclaim Zuccotti Park on the six-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protests. "This beast will lock you up because you are poor, because you are queer, because you are black," Chino Hardin of the Center for NuLeadership said. Though no arrests occurred, the Mayor's personal army greeted protesters with an imposing presence of officers and barricades surrounding the plaza. more ›

The NYCLU has analyzed the locations of the 684,330 people who were stopped and frisked by the NYPD last year and has determined the top 10 neighborhoods where the tactic was used the most. Precincts in East New York and Brownsville came in first and second on the list, with 31,100 and 25,167 people stopped respectively. The only Precinct in Manhattan that made the list was the 23rd in Harlem. “My community doesn’t have one of the highest rates of crime,” Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito told the Daily News. That's strange, considering the NYPD only targets high-crime areas and would never, ever racially profile. more ›

Over the weekend, the NY Times published an editorial slamming the NYPD for its "constitutionally suspect surveillance practices... employed against law-abiding Muslims" and suggested, "The Justice Department should also review other practices — chief among them, stop-and-frisk — that have virtually eliminated the presumption of innocence and that treat citizens, and even entire communities, as suspect even after they are proved innocent." So the NYPD issued its own defense on its website. more ›

For well over two hours yesterday, the City Council aggressively lobbed questions at NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, on such hot topics as stop-and-frisk, Muslim surveillance, and Occupy Wall Street. Kelly, being Popeye Kelly, fired back, often with open disdain for the elected officials who dared call him on the carpet. Perhaps the most heated moment of what was ostensibly a budget hearing came when Democrat Robert Jackson, who represents Harlem, tried to ask Kelly about his appearance in an inflammatory Islamaphobic documentary The Third Jihad, and press secretary Paul Browne's, uh, misstatements about it. Capital New York's Azi Paybarah reports: more ›

In an obvious parody that we really wish was real, a website claiming to be affiliated with McDonald's and the NYPD is promising a free Happy Meal for every person who is stopped and frisked three times without charges. All you gotta do is print out the voucher below, and jot down the officer's badge number every time you're stopped. Once you hit the magic number, bring the voucher to any McDonald's and exchange it for your delicious prize! Mmmm, who knew the police state could be so tasty! In this video, a man claiming to be a McDonald's manager explains how the "Three Strikes, You're In!" offer came to be: more ›

Activists braved the rain and wind this afternoon to gather on the steps of City Hall for a press conference championing new legislation intended to curb discriminatory practices in NYPD's stop and frisk program. The legislation, which was proposed by Councilmember Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) and introduced today, aims to limit discriminatory profiling during NYPD stop and frisks; it would do this by broadening the legal definition of discrimination to include sex, gender identity, age and housing status. Jasmine Epps, 25, of the LGBT youth organization Streetwise and Safe, spoke with us of her own experiences being stopped and frisked by the NYPD while growing up in public housing in Brooklyn. more ›

Shawn Portuguez wouldn't make it to his 3 p.m. trim at a barbershop in the Lower East Side because he was in handcuffs. "They said I crossed the street three times, so that's why they stopped me," Portuguez said as he stood waiting for the two NYPD officers to check his information on Thursday. "I just left my apartment for the first time today." Police took Portuguez away after he was told he had an outstanding warrant, but a DCPI spokesman says no arrest record exists for the encounter. Asked why they chose to stop Portuguez out of the flow of people milling around Rivington Street, an officer said, "We had a murder around here recently, so we're being extra vigilant." more ›

Every time the NYPD stops and frisks someone without making an arrest, the officer who made the stop should have to give out a business card, says Councilmember Jumaane Williams, who plans to introduce a bill next week requiring cops to do just that. The card would have the officer’s name, rank and unit, and when you collect 10 you can presumably trade them in for an NYPD plush teddy bear! more ›

Joseph Midgley, a volunteer for Picture the Homeless, represents four of the 684,330 stops initiated by the NYPD in 2011. "I have been stopped and frisked four times and each time I have been standing in public places," he told a crowd of reporters gathered at City Hall this afternoon. "I've been questioned by the police and asked if I had anything illegal on me. To which I replied, 'no.' My pockets were still searched. Nothing illegal was found. I was never charged. Never even given a ticket on all four occasions. This form of discriminatory policing is outrageous and it must stop. Not tomorrow, not next year, but today." more ›

In 2010, when the NYPD broke its previous all-time-high record for stop-and-frisks with a sensational 601,055 street stops, many "frisk fans" said there was no way NYPers could top that in 2011! But Coach Ray Kelly's dream team has just clinched another champion season, breaking the previous record by stopping and questioning an all-time-high of 684,330 people. At press time, video from 1 Police Plaza showed a trio of triumphant beat cops sneaking up behind Kelly with a giant tub of Gatorade. Look out, Popeye! more ›

The NYPD made more than 50,680 arrests for low-level marijuana offenses in 2011, once again making low-level pot possession the number one cause of arrest in NYC. 2011 was the second-highest period for marijuana arrests in New York City history, and this despite NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly specifically ordering officers to stop arresting people who bring small quantities of marijuana into open view during a stop-and-frisk. In a September memo, Kelly told officers, "A crime will not be charged to an individual who is requested or compelled to engage in the behavior that results in the public display of marijuana." Unfortunately, most hippies were too stoned to read all the way the bottom of the memo, where Kelly included a photo of himself winking slyly. more ›

Last year, the federal authorities charged a police officer for violating the civil rights of a 31-year-old black man, claiming that officer Michael Daragjati falsely arrested him can called him a "n-----" Now, Daragjati's lawyer says they have a plea scheduled. more ›

According to a 20-year study [pdf] federally funded by the National Institute for Drug Abuse and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, marijuana, the illicit substance grown naturally from the earth that around 100 people every hour are arrested for possessing, doesn't harm your lungs. So what was true in 1972, 1995, and 1999, remains true today! We're awaiting the emergency press conference in the Rose Garden, and a tipster tells us that Burning Spear's tour bus has appeared on Pennsylvania Ave. more ›

The playgrounds in this city are not intended for public use—don't you remember what happened to the doughnut girls? Patrick Beberfield apparently did not when he stepped outside for a breath of fresh air in the park near his Bed-Stuy home, all because of the smell of a dead chicken. But try telling that to the cops. more ›

Yesterday, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly was heckled during a Q&A period of David Dinkins' graduate class at Columbia University. Kelly reportedly was unfazed by the outburst, which was in part spurred by alleged police misconduct during OWS protests, and made the sardonic comment, "Well, this is very intimidating." Now, a tipster sent us a video of activist Matthew Swaye following Kelly out of the building and trying to award him the "2011 Bull Connor Award." more ›

It's continuing to be a banner year for street shakedowns as the NYPD has stopped 514,000 people through September 2011, 13% higher than 2010. According to the NYCLU, 4 million people have been stopped since the program began in 2004. Did the lucky 4 millionth customer win a wheelbarrow full of NYPD swag? Were they allowed to keep their dignity and take a photo with NYPD's stop-and-frisk mascot, Patty, The Firm Hand Of Justice? more ›

Extending the courtesy of ticket-fixing to fellow officers, pepper-spraying peaceful protesters, and planting drugs on innocent suspects to meet arrest quotas are but three of the NYPD's less savory on-the-job exploits which have been put under the microscope via recent high-profile cases. But the NYTimes' Jim Dwyer points us in the direction of one person's smaller story of a particularly frivolous arrest which seems just as ridiculous as those bigger cases: a 21-year-old female student was arrested and held by NYPD for 36 hours for not carrying ID. And as Dwyer so simply puts it, once she finally reached a courtroom, "the judge proceeded to dismiss the ticket in less than a minute." more ›