New York’s Returning Police Boss Targets Stop-and-Frisk Practice

New York City’s newly installed mayor, Bill de Blasio, has tapped Bill Bratton to run the NYPD under his watch, and the returning chief stepped up Thursday with a plan to target and reduce one of the most controversial tactics practiced by the city’s police force: the infamous “stop-and-frisk” strategy that has drawn strong criticism for encouraging racial profiling.

Stop and frisk allows officers to zero in on, and interrogate and search, civilians according to their discretion — which, opponents maintain, reinforces racial biases by targeting particular demographics over others. Bratton held forth on the issue as he marked his official comeback to his position, the Agence France-Presse reported that day:

“There is a divergence of opinion about this issue with the former commissioner. I’m quite comfortable we can have less and achieve the same results,” Bratton said.

“I think we can find the right amount where we have a safe city, and communities and police that respect each other.”

Bratton is the only person ever to have led the police forces in both of the two largest US cities, New York and Los Angeles.

He was a key figure in imposing “zero tolerance” policing credited with slashing crime in New York in the 1990s.

–Posted by Kasia Anderson