With Crime Up, NYPD Analyzes End of Stop-Frisk

The NYPD is studying years of data to determine if the decline in stop-and-frisk is the cause of an uptick in crime in New York City.

Police Commissioner William Bratton said Wednesday that the department will have a better idea about any connection after the analysis is completed, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“We have a very comprehensive analysis under way right now,” Bratton said after an unrelated event at police headquarters. “At this juncture, we really don’t know. Once that study is completed over the next several weeks, we’ll have a better idea of that.”

He has previously said he didn’t believe there was a link between the drop in stops and an increase in shootings.

A federal court judge found last year that the NYPD was unconstitutionally using the stop-and-frisk policy to target minorities. The court installed a monitor to oversee changes and the decision is pending approval.

Concurrently, the city council voted to allow people who are stopped to sue in court if they believe it was due to their race.

The commissioner ordered the study during a meeting this week. Precincts plagued by gun violence will be flooded with new recruits who graduate on Monday.

An official with direct knowledge of the meeting told the Journal that Bratton was concerned about the surge in shootings and went around the room asking for solutions.

Unsatisfied, he ordered a study that looks at trends contributing to the uptick and if there is any correlation to the drop in 250 reports — the form officers fill out after conducting a stop.

Officers conducted 14,261 stops from Jan. 1 to March 31 of this year, compared with 99,788 for the same period in 2013. But the number of shooting incidents increased from 495 shooting incidents this year, compared to 445 in the same period last year.

This article appeared in print on page 4 of the June 27th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.