Does NY stop and frisk reduce crime - Term Paper Example

Does NY Stop and Frisk Reduce Crime ID Number & Total Number of Words: 364 Accordingto Raymond Kelly – the New York Police Commissioner; “we are successful in suppressing crime, and we want to get the word out about how we do it” (Gardiner & Saul, 2012). To prove that the “stop and frisk” policy is effective in terms of controlling the number of reported city crimes, Mac Donald (2012) highlighted that the crime rate in New York was relatively low at 2,257 per 100,000 residents as compared to Boston’s 4,107 per 100,000 residents and High Point’s 5,212 per 100,000 residents.

Due to the fact that the rate of homicide in New York has significantly decreased by up to “82% from 1990 to 2009” made the members of the N.Y.P.D. believe that the policy on “stop and frisk” has been quite effective in terms of reducing crime (Mac Donald, 2012). New York is not the only city that has tried to implement the “stop and frisk” policy. To make the criminals feel apprehended at the time of government election in 2008, the police department of Philadelphia also implemented the same policy.

A couple of years after the Mayor’s election, the incidence of murder was significantly reduced by up to 22% (Lamberth, 2012). Answering the question “Does NY stop and frisk reduce crime?” is not easy to answer due to the fact that the real factor that could increase or decrease in the crime rate is very complex. Although Philadelphia mentioned that there was a 22% reduction in the number of reported murder, this figure does not necessarily mean that the process of implementing the “stop and frisk” policy was the root cause behind the decreasing trend in murder cases.

In fact, Lamberth (2012) mentioned that the state of Philadelphia was already experiencing a decrease in the number of murder cases since 2006. Up to the present time, there is no scientific evidence that can prove that the process of implementing “stop and frisk” policy is effective in terms of reducing crime. The fact that the "black pedestrians were stopped at a rate that is 50 percent greater than their representation in the residential census" makes this policy develop racism and prejudism in New York (Neumeister, Hays, & Gross, 2012).

ReferencesGardiner, S., & Saul, M. (2012, June 20). The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2012, from New Panel Examines Police Tactics : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303703004577476980483677206.htmlLamberth, J. (2012). Retrieved July 22, 2012, from The Effectiveness of Stop and Frisk in the United States: http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/US_Lamberth_The_Effectiveness_of_Stop_and_Frisk_in_the_United_StatesFinal.pdfMac Donald, H. (2012, July 17). The New York Times. Retrieved July 22, 2012, from To See Its Value, See How Crime Rose Elsewhere: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/07/17/does-stop-and-frisk-reduce-crime/to-see-its-value-see-how-crime-rose-elsewhereNeumeister, L., Hays, T., & Gross, S.

(2012, May 17). The Post-Journal. Retrieved July 23, 2012, from NY judge grants class action status to frisk suit: http://www.post-journal.com/page/content.detail/id/209626/NY-judge-grants-class-action-status-to-frisk-suit.html?isap=1&nav=5027