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The NYCLU released an app called "Stop and Frisk Watch."
Believe you are witnessing an unlawful police stop and want to record the moment? There's an app for that, courtesy of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
The group released a free smartphone application on Wednesday that allows people to record videos of and report police “stop and frisk” activity, a practice widely denounced by civil rights groups as unjustified stops that they say mostly target minorities and almost never results in an arrest.
The appl was thoroughly criticized by the New York Police Department, which said that the tool might prove useful for criminals.
The “Stop and Frisk Watch” phone app is meant for bystanders watching a police stop, not those subject to it, the NYCLU said. Now available on Android phones, an iPhone version will launch later in the summer. It comes in English and Spanish.
“Stop and Frisk Watch is about empowering individuals and community groups to confront abusive, discriminatory policing,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said in a statement. “The NYPD’s own data shows that the overwhelming majority of people subjected to stop-and-frisk are black or Latino, and innocent of any wrongdoing. At a time when the [Mayor Mike] Bloomberg administration vigorously defends the status quo, our app will allow people to go beyond the data to document how each unjustified stop further corrodes trust between communities and law enforcement.”
The recording and report will be sent to the civil liberties group, which will collect the information. One of the app’s three main functions is called “listen,” in which users can learn when and where people around them are being stopped. This would be useful for community groups monitoring police activity, the NYCLU said in a statement.
New York City police stopped and questioned people 685,724 times in 2011, a more than 600 percent increase in street stops since 2002 -- Bloomberg’s first year in office -- when there were 97,296 stops, the group said in a statement. Of that, 87 percent were black or Latino, and nine out of every 10 of the people who were stopped were not arrested or ticketed.
The “stop and frisk” practice has been the subject of many protests in the city, and one of the focuses of the Occupy Wall Street movement. The NYCLU said it developed the app with Jason Van Anden, a Brooklyn-based visual artist and software developer who also created an Occupy Wall Street app, “I’m Getting Arrested.”
Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne denounced the app, saying criminals would find it “useful” because it would alert them to where police stops were happening. He also raised concerns about privacy issues and the rights of those being filmed, noting the group was de facto creating a “database of videos of individuals stopped by police.”
“It's one thing when providers learn what pizza or movies you like. It’s another to create a database of stops and arrests by police,” he said in an email statement. “On the plus side, the videos may capture images of suspects in the vicinity of a stop and be helpful to the police in that regard. Presumably, the NYCLU database will the names of the videographers and provide a rich vein of potential witnesses to crimes being investigated by the NYPD and other authorities.”
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Those that say we as law abiding citizens have nothing to hide therefore nothing to fear from the law remind me of good little NAZIs..
What you don't like the moniker..? Then quit acting as if you enjoy living in a totalitarian society.
You are walking down the street and a group of three beat cops ask you where you have been, where you are going and why you are going there or why you went where you went. WTF is it any of their business...?
....and if you tell then it is none of their concern as long as it did not involve breaking the law, now you are combative and can be beaten into submission or worse, and once dead from this treatment, described as a mentally unbalanced threat to others...
This is the system you respect...?
No freind this is the system we all should fear. It is not the future but the present reality...and has nothing to do with cops protecting the law abiding folk or getting criminals of the street...
Stop and Frisk is a clear violation of the 4th amendment. Just another example of our governing officials unashamedly violating the Constitution, which by now I think, should be just thrown away. Nobody pays any attention to it anymore so it's pretty much useless.
Stop and frisk is not unconstitutional by itself. If mis-used it can be wrong.
A "Stop" is not an arrest. An arrest, as the first step in a prosecution must be based on probable cause. a stop may be for "articulable suspicion. For example:
A man is walking down the street with something strange and feathery in his hat. The policeman stops him and asks, "What's your name and what is that strange thing in your hat?" The man says, "Oh, that.
My name is Yankee Doodle, and that is my large macaroni." To which the officer responds, "Well, that's strange but you are free to go. Have a nice day."
The officer had articulable suspicion and thus could stop the man, but not probable cause, so an arrest was un-warranted.
Terry vs. State of Ohio, U.S. Supreme Court, 1968
The issue I can see here is that with this app there may be several judges who are sympathetic to police officers (*GASP* judges and police officers can be corrupt??) and may not allow the recordings into evidence.
This is where youtube uploads done anonymously will be much more effective, while they may or may not be admissable in court millions of people will see it, and millions more will hear about it.
If the reason so many police officers were for the dashcam was to "protect themselves with videotape" then why do they cry foul when citizens try to do the same.
Watch out America, several states have already passed laws that make it a criminal offense to videotape police officers on duty - this is a clear and obvious attempt at forming a police state - don't believe me?? Just google it and see how many hits you get on it.
This is why anonymity via youtube is going to be the best way for citizens to go, people will see it regardless of the "law". As more and more devices become video and internet capable and more and more people use them to catch these criminals (yep these police are committing crimes when they violate the 4th amendment) you will see more and more of a crackdown on this kind of thing.
Speak up, don't let the rhetoric spin police put on it sway you, its not about criminals getting a pass - its about abuse of police power and the fact that they want to cover it up. Any police officer who was not violating the law should have no problem with being recorded - in fact they would probably welcome the evidence of them acting appropriately to the situation. When the police can't be trusted we don't have anyone to police the police.
"This is why anonymity via youtube"
Republicans and the corporations that own them are dying to get rid of internet "anonymity".
Just another reason not to vote for them.
I've heard a police officer admit that every police officer knows they can stop anybody they want and then make up a reason for the stop afterwards. I've also worked for judges who have known an officer was lying on the stand about the reason for a stop but didn't care and did nothing about it. The legal threshold to support a stop (reasonable suspicion of criminal activity) is supportable by simply saying the driver made a moving violation. This combination of factors gives officers free course to bully whoever they choose. This App would at least begin to tally the nature of this problem.
There are many good cops who do a difficult job with respect, but certain types of people take certain types of jobs, and law enforcement is a haven for many who enjoy bullying. Anything that exposes arrogant and negligent cops, particularly in the post 9-11 fear based era that has granted them tacit support by an ignorant few to stomp civil rights, is a good thing. People seem to forget that anyone abused by an abusive cop suffers the same kind of mental and emotional trauma that one would suffer as the victim of a criminal act. Anything to stop such an abuse improves our society and reduces the proliferating effects that hurt us all.
Lots of good cops, but the Police force, like the military, is sometimes the choice of people who can't find a job doing anything else.
Like all other government employees...
"Like all other government employees..."
That used to be true when private sector jobs were better. The pensions and beneifts were to lure people to work there for less money.
Now, the private sector has been downsized, outsourced, and offshored, while the pensions and benefits have disappeared. Government jobs are the "good" jobs now. If you're over the age of 50, you know how pathetic that is.
We seem to be "fixing" it so the government jobs are at least as crappy as the private sector job.
Don't worry. It's all part of the plan.
Global Economy = Global Standard of Living.
Our standard of living is not competititve in a global economy......yet, and will decline until it is.
If you don't see it happening, your blind. Don't listen to the carnival barkers screaming about "government" or "regulations", or "taxes"
Those are to distract you from seeing what's happening.
There is nothing that our government can "do" or "stop doing", and there is NOTHING in the Republican's "solutions' that will allow Americans to live on 50 cents an hour.
The jobs are gone. They're not coming back.
Get used to it.
Hindering police policy whether it be just standing by and taking video or photos may put your life and the officer's life in danger. Suppose the person being searched was just described as a man wearing such and such last seen with a gun and wanted in questioning for killing his neighbor is stopped near your front door, what should you do? 1. Open the door and get close enough to hear and see what is going on? 2. Open the door and ask the officer what is going on or 3. Open the door and invite them in? I would think just standing in side looking outside would be enough to put all in danger, but hey this man being questioned has rights and being stopped just because he/she may or may not fit the description or because he is in an area that has had it's share of drug problems by suspected gang members isn't enough to warrant a search. I've always told my kids if you're not doing anything wrong you don't have anything to worry about and it seems to have worked for them. I've also told them if they are hanging out with the wrong crowd to expect to be treated as one of them, so pick your friends wisely. If it's so wrong to be searched then why do we allow it to happen at airports, court houses, federal buildings and all the other places we might or might not want to enter. Last time I went to jury duty I was not even allowed to take my phone inside the court house so how is this app even possible in this scenario? My advice to those of you with big noses is to mind your own before you get someone hurt, possible yourself. As for this story claiming most people subjected to this procedure are African-American or Hispanic, Those 2 groups combined are the majority of our population, so that stands to reason they would be the majority. If you don't understand how that works go back to school and learn math. If you are concerned your children are being falsely detained then teach them why and where they are subject to searches.
African-American and Hispanics are both minorities in NYC, but predominate in 'stop-and-frisk.'
The 'app' and the camera do not pose any physical threat to the police officer. They are not in danger from it or the person operating it.
The forefathers did envision walking the streets without fear of government intervention and harassment. The emplaced the 4th, 5th, and 6th amendments to the Constitution for just that purpose.
Interesting how they only include how NYPD stops have increased 600% in 10 years. How about including how crime has decreased exponentially in that time period in NY. Nah. Don't want facts to get in the way of an inflammatory article.
Interesting how this non-story includes that NYPD stops have increased 600% but conveniently leaves out the exponential decrease in crime during the same period. Well, we don't want facts to get in the way of a good story, right?
People just need to know there rights and what is what. To detain the police need reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred is occurring or will occur. To arrest the police need probable cause that a crime occurred or is occurring.
Stop and frisk is a weak tactic used by police who can't develop reasonable suspicion from a consentual contact. If the police walk up to you and ask if they can talk to you and you say yes, it's a consentual contact. If they ask if they can search you for weapons and you say yes, it's still consentual. If you say no to either question and he doesn't have reasonable suspicion to detain you, you can walk away.
I've been there and done that in a bad neighborhood and finding and arresting criminals was like shooting fish in a barrel to coin a term. Stop and frisk is unnecesary if the police are trained properly and have a good knowledge of a persons rights and basic legal updates.
No they do not. Read the patriot act....
I think all law enforcement officers should take a week off and see how many opinions of them change. This will have the added benefit of no LEO having to give his life to protect an ungrateful public who are only able to focus on the small percentage of bad incidents.
That is a GREAT idea! They could then be replaced by honest, hardworking, less expensive replacements that do not abuse the public and break the law. City Commissioners should demand polygraph testing for all disputed arrests and complaints. Random drug testing for cops is a great idea also. Abolish the Police Unions who protect crooked cops and who promote exagerated salaries and benefits for cops at taxpayer expense. Unions are a rectal wart and cancer on the skin of taxpaying Americans and need to be abolished once and for all. Thankfully we are headed in that direction.
All cops should be subject to polygraph testing for ALL disputed arrests or complaints. So many problems solved in a hurry. Police corruption and abuse is more commonplace than Mom & Pop in the suburbs realize.. until it happens to them. City Commissiomers NATIONWIDE should demand independent polygraph testing for all disputed arrests and complaints. Any cop objecting to this obviously has something to hide, and should be fired. In the process, get rid of the Police Unions who protect the scumbag crooked cops.
We need to remove the words 'probable cause' from our dictionary, and maybe in a few years change the description of our government to something along the lines of communist since we're now legislating what people can say (that is a very disturbing statement) all based on fear not intellect like the founders of our constitution. We can go on and on, but we have to live with it and hope your side will have the majority (51% vs 49%) during next election.
We need to remove the words 'probable cause' from our dictionary, and maybe in a few years change the description of our government to something along the lines of communist since we're now, for example, legislating what people can say (that is a very disturbing statement) all based on fear not intellect like the founders of our constitution. We can go on and on, but we have to live with it and hope your side will have the majority (51% vs 49%) during next election.
When one hand washes the other justice fails on many levels.
Lets hope for something new.
but expect the same year in and year out till even hope is crushed.
be free,
Unconstitutional & unfair police practices, abuse, & brutality have become a modern trend in the US, which is both inhumane & unacceptable. It is time someone starts paying close attention in an attempt to stop this bad & out of control practice.
This whole thing is a double edged sword. Most people searched are "victimized" by the cops and the 1 criminal that actually gets arrested (More likely ticketed for some bullsh*t), could find him/her getting off because a cop roughed them up a little during the arrest. At the rate things are going, we'll have the TSA body scanning & frisking people every time someone leaves their house. I don't mind giving up some freedoms to protect us from terrorists, but where do we draw the line?
As a former law enforcement officer (hear me out please) I think this is a good app for the following reasons.
When patrol car dash cams first came out I was not in favor of them because I felt that they would cause our every action as police officers to be dragged into court or before Internal Affairs. It wasn't until I found that the films actually worked in our favor by showing the courts, jury's, and IA the detailed actions and words of the suspects or bystanders.
Not all cops are power hungry monsters. Not all cops are egotistical maniacs on power trips. 98% of us are there to protect people. To solve problems. To uphold our society's laws and rules.
i think that this will keep the police on their toes
Just looks like another foolish way for NYCLU to spent donors money. All Police encounters with the public in my area are already recorded, by the police dash cam in the patrol cars. The folks running NYCLU are just like the folks running the NAACP..they are more interested in keeping racial tensions going so that they can raise money and keep their postions than they are about civil liberties.. wake up people
STOP BREAKING THE LAW @$$#@!% CLEAR AND SIMPLE and im sure they dont just stop blacks and hispanics grow up its a new world that law prolly stoped some punk kid from shooting up the place. im not saying its right but if we didnt have it and a bomb or something went off they would blame the city for not preventing it so sick and tired of people Just sayin