A new report by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman analyzed the “efficacy” of stop-and-frisk based on how many stops lead to arrests and convictions.
Credit: Miles Dixon
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman released a report on Thursday analyzing the effectiveness of the controversial stop-and-frisk police practice, based on data from the NYPD and the office of Court Administration.
The report looked at the number of stops that led to arrests, and the number of arrests that led to convictions. It looked at about 150,000 arrests out of 2.4 million stops between 2009 and 2012.
According to the A.G.’s report, 3 percent of those arrests lead to convictions, and .01 percent to convictions for a violent crime;.03 percent resulted in jail sentences of more than 30 days.
Schneiderman highlighted the city’s litigation costs due to stop-and-frisk:In 2009, the NYPD paid out the largest legal settlement of any city agency for the first time in three decades.
The report also looked at the harm suffered by arrestees even for misdemeanors.
People who are arrested, even if they are only charged with misdemeanors, face “collateral consequences” regardless of the ultimate outcome of the case. Their lives are affected in myriad ways, from loss of employment, housing or immigration status to becoming ineligible for student loans.
This the attorney general’s second report on this issue; the first stop-and-frisk report in 1999 found black and Hispanic New Yorkers were stopped and frisked disproportionately, even when accounting for demographics and crime rates.
By the numbers
1 in 16 stop-and-frisk arrests — or 0.3 percent of all stops — led to a jail or prison sentence of more than 30 days
1 in 50 stop-and-frisk arrests — or 0.1 percent of all stops — led to a conviction for a violent crime
1 in 50 stop-and-frisk arrests — or 0.1 percent of all stops — led to a conviction for possession of a weapon
24.7 percent of stop-and-frisk arrests were dismissed before arraignment or resulted in a noncriminal charge
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