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Police stops and frisks on the decline – Metro US

Police stops and frisks on the decline

Forces opposed to the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk program may be winning concessions.

Police conducted 203,500 stops during the first three months of 2012, but that number dropped to 133,934 during the following three months, according to various news reports.

“This reduction is a good start, but much more needs to be done to rebuild community trust,” Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio took a similar position, saying stop and frisk had “undermined the trust and collaboration we need to fight violence.”

Nearly 700,000 New Yorkers were stopped last year, most of whom were black or Latino. That number represented a 14 percent increase from 2010 and a 600 percent increase since police began collecting such data in 2002.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly have both strongly supported the program, though they agreed in May to make a few tweaks.

Around that same time, a federal judge certified a class-action lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of stop-and-frisk policies, and de Blasio introduced legislation that would mandate a reduction in the number of unwarranted stops.

Meanwhile, a silent protest this June drew thousands of stop-and-frisk opponents.

The NYPD did not respond yesterday to a request for comment.