Stop-stop and frisk movement stops by Grant Houses

Dec. 12 – From Egypt, to Oakland, to Zuccotti Park, protests have snatched front-page headlines for months.  Now the so-called stop-stop and frisk movement in New York City is gaining momentum, too.  Organizers say the New York Police Department uses this controversial tactic to unfairly discriminate against black and Latino residents living in New York City public housing.  The group has marched with their message to police precincts in In Harlem, Brownsville Brooklyn, and Jamaica Queens.

Michelle Dolks has lived in the Grant Houses in West Harlem for almost forty-five years.  She raised her two sons in the 5,000 resident development, and she says that she is appalled with the way the Police use stop and frisk.   The NYPD calls the tactic stop, question, and search and using it officers can stop individuals without a warrant if they find them “suspicious.”  The problem is there are no clear definitions of suspicious.  Dolks says that the NYPD regularly targets her sons, and other young people in the Grant Houses, using stop and frisk,  ”The police feel that because we are people of minority, that they can take advantage of us, and it’s not fair,” she said.

Civil rights activist Cornel West addresses crowd at Stop 'Stop and Frisk' march in Harlem. (Photo Credit: Vickie Ramoe)

Supporters of the movement marched three blocks from Harlem’s State office building at West 125^th Street to the 28^th Police Precinct during the first protest.  The NYPD arrested thirty-five participants for non-violent disobedience, including Civil Rights Activist Cornel West.  Two groups, Occupy Wall Street and the Revolutionary Communist Party brought out their support in big numbers that day. Will Reese, a Communist party member, was one of those supporters.  He says, “[The police] are going to go through 700,000 people in the year 2011.  It’s a violation of their own constitutional guarantees.”

The law requires rigorous record keeping by the police department for stop and frisk. In 2004, about 300,000 individuals were stopped, but that many people were stopped in just the first six months of 2011.  Reese says this policy isn’t about crime prevention.  According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, more than three-quarters of those stopped are black or Latino. Of those, 90% are doing nothing wrong.

Stop-stop and frisk movement organizers intend to stay active in communities most affected by frisking.  Leaders called an emergency protest last Saturday in Harlem after police arrested a 16- year-old male for disorderly conduct during a routine stop.