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August 27, 2013 10:09 pm GMT
Newark Mayor and Senate candidate Cory Booker has just begun testing an innovative solution to the racial problems plaguing law enforcement’s use of stop-and-frisk: hold officers accountable by making details of every stop accessible to the public. The controversial practice of “stop-and-frisk” allows police officers to pat down any citizens for looking mildly suspicious; law enforcement claims it’s a vital tool against crime in overcrowded cities, while civil liberties groups claim that it unfairly targets minorities (In New York, minorities make up 90 percent of all stop-and-frisk incidents). But while NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg is fighting civil-liberties groups to keep the practice, Booker worked with his local American Civil Liberties Union to find a solution in radical transparency. Every month, Newark will release stop-and-frisk incident reports, detailing the race, gender, age, forced used, and arrests made. “It’s a win for police officers, because they’re able to gain the trust of community members,” says Udi Ofer, head of Newark’s American Civil Liberties Union. “It’s a win for the public, because the public is then able to decipher whether there is any abuses taking place.” For those unaware, stop and frisk, by any measure, is a pretty broad tactic. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, only 1 in 143 NYPD stops of African Americansresult in a seizure of guns, drugs or other weapons. And with decreased oversight, opportunity for police aggression is ripe. For an undercover look, see @3:05 in the YouTube video below of an actual stop and frisk. Data, Unintentional Racism, And Safety Even though most people wouldn’t consider themselves racist, many of us may harbor latent biases. For police, seeing the same minority violence on a daily basis may exacerbate the prejudices we all hold. “What the public sees as “racially charged” is often driven not only by implicit biases, but by poor communication and a history of mistrust between some communities and the police who are sworn to protect them,” explains University of California, Los Angeles Professor Philip Goff, to me in an email. “In other words, it is not possible to understand bias in policing without understanding human nature, and our tendency to misinterpret others we fear might be dangerous” Releasing data on stop-and-frisks is a friendly way for police to admitt unintentional potential racial bias. With nothing to hide, authorities can admit wrongdoing without losing face, working cooperatively with community members to investigate the truth.
Original Link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/oRqpHXwOlXE/
Cory Booker Opens Stop-And-Frisk Data To The Public. Here's Why It Might Help.
Newark Mayor and Senate candidate Cory Booker has just begun testing an innovative solution to the racial problems plaguing law enforcement’s use of stop-and-frisk: hold officers accountable by making details of every stop accessible to the public. The controversial practice of “stop-and-frisk” allows police officers to pat down any citizens for looking mildly suspicious; law enforcement claims it’s a vital tool against crime in overcrowded cities, while civil liberties groups claim that it unfairly targets minorities (In New York, minorities make up 90 percent of all stop-and-frisk incidents). But while NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg is fighting civil-liberties groups to keep the practice, Booker worked with his local American Civil Liberties Union to find a solution in radical transparency. Every month, Newark will release stop-and-frisk incident reports, detailing the race, gender, age, forced used, and arrests made. “It’s a win for police officers, because they’re able to gain the trust of community members,” says Udi Ofer, head of Newark’s American Civil Liberties Union. “It’s a win for the public, because the public is then able to decipher whether there is any abuses taking place.” For those unaware, stop and frisk, by any measure, is a pretty broad tactic. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, only 1 in 143 NYPD stops of African Americansresult in a seizure of guns, drugs or other weapons. And with decreased oversight, opportunity for police aggression is ripe. For an undercover look, see @3:05 in the YouTube video below of an actual stop and frisk. Data, Unintentional Racism, And Safety Even though most people wouldn’t consider themselves racist, many of us may harbor latent biases. For police, seeing the same minority violence on a daily basis may exacerbate the prejudices we all hold. “What the public sees as “racially charged” is often driven not only by implicit biases, but by poor communication and a history of mistrust between some communities and the police who are sworn to protect them,” explains University of California, Los Angeles Professor Philip Goff, to me in an email. “In other words, it is not possible to understand bias in policing without understanding human nature, and our tendency to misinterpret others we fear might be dangerous” Releasing data on stop-and-frisks is a friendly way for police to admitt unintentional potential racial bias. With nothing to hide, authorities can admit wrongdoing without losing face, working cooperatively with community members to investigate the truth.Original Link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/oRqpHXwOlXE/
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