A series of robberies at the 7th Avenue F train subway station in Park Slope has allegedly prompted the NYPD Transit captain to order officers to "stop all black male teens" there, according to the NY Post. Cops are apparently supposed to stop and question teens, while filling out "250 forms." This, of course, has set off a frenzy from different unions and organizations. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Assication's Patrick Lynch said, "Ordering police officers to stop every black male teenager is against the department's racial-profiling prohibition and creates more trouble for the officers than it will solve," while 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care head Eric Adams said, "We're going to go to the Seventh Avenue station and do observations," given the NYPD's past abuse using 250 forms.
The NYPD tells the Post says there isn't racial profiling - the police are following up on descriptions of suspects and questioning people who fit them. Still, the civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel explains that just being black and being a teenager is not enough to stop them. Clearly, there's a fine line between profiling and police work.
