Here in New York City, the biggest question on primary night is if Bill De Blasio will get enough votes to avoid a runoff. He has consistently been the front-runner since Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled against the city in one of 3 separate class-action lawsuits regarding the NYPD's "Stop and Frisk" policy.
First, a little background. The New York Police Department (NYPD) claims it has the right to stop and frisk anyone engaged in suspicious behavior. In practice, this has led the department to stop and frisk young black and latino men for being young and black or latino. Fewer than 6% of over 2 million stops have led to legal action (i.e, fine, ticket, bench warrant, arrest).
That statistic, in and of itself, should be reason enough for the Police Brass to re-examine their definition of "suspicious behavior," but it's not.
De Blasio was the first mayoral candidate to speak out against "Stop and Frisk" and he has been the most vocal. The pro "Stop and Frisk" crowd claims that we can have this policy or we can die. A couple of weeks ago, an infant was shot to death and the Mayor had an "I told you so moment." This is what the dictionary charitably defines as bovine excrement.
While it is true that this death occurred after the judge's ruling, the city made clear that they were appealing. As such, the city was continuing its "Stop and Frisk" under the current rules. Therefore, the only thing that can be drawn for the death of this infant is that the Mayor's policy did not prevent it. Since children will still die occasionally, even in the face of unconstitutionally aggressive policing, let's make sure that we are adhering to the Constitution.
By the way, I think it is important to point out that the judge did not rule that police could not stop and frisk people suspected of criminal behavior. The 4th Amendment only prohibits "unreasonable" searches. The judge only ruled that the NYPD definition of suspicious behavior, to wit; being a minority, was unreasonable.
The Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, says this will harm minorities because 97% of violent crime takes place in their neighborhoods. I look at that 97% figure and say that is because we look for crime in those neighborhoods. There is no scientific correlation between minorities and crime. There is statistical correlation between poverty and crime. And yes, I acknowledge that poverty disproportionately affects minorities.
Here is a thought experiment for you. As a percentage of the population, drug use is about the same in white communities as it is in minority communities. There are more white people (hence the term "minority"). There are more minorities in jail for drug crimes. Clearly the math does not work.
Two days after the Boston bombing I walked through airport security wearing a black baseball cap and a black backpack. Nobody said a thing. Probably because I'm a 47 year old guy whose last name is Cohen. 50 years and two weeks after Martin Luther King dreamed of a world where his children would be judged by the content of their character, the NYPD judges them by the color of their skin.
I watch a lot of crime drama. Here is the big takeaway. You do not get to simply declare that we are beyond racism. You have to back it up with evidence. It's not there. Go Frisk Yourself.