The number of stop-and-frisk encounters has been declining. Credit: Thinkstock
City lawyers have asked a federal judge to postpone stop-and-frisk reforms while the city appeals the ruling, noting that the number of stops has dropped sharply in the second quarter of the year.
U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled earlier this month that the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy violated the civil rights of minorities and appointed an outside monitor to oversee major changes.
In a letter to Scheindlin, the lawyers argued that some of the changes, such as putting body cameras on police officers in certain neighborhoods, could be a waste of time and money if the appeal is successful, The New York Daily News reported.
The lawyers also cited a drop in the number of stop-and-frisk encounters. According to the city, cops made 58,088 stops between April and June, down from 99,788 in the first quarter of the year.
As part of his effort to show that stop-and-frisk is critical to crime reduction, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is now releasing crime stats every week, including figures on how murders and shooting are down from last year, the News reports.
