Updated 06/24/2010 03:53 PM
State Senate Bill Would Clear Stop And Frisk Database
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State lawmakers are trying to wipe out the New York City Police Department's database on people who are stopped by officers on the street.
The State Senate yesterday passed legislation that would prohibit police from keeping the database.
Critics, including the bill's sponsor, former police officer and State Senator Eric Adams, say it's un-American to keep information on innocent people.
The New York Civil Liberties Union has sued to get the records sealed.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said in a statement that the information has an effective tool in identifying crime suspects in bias attacks and other violent crimes.
"[A]ttackers were identified through records of previous stops – even though they were neither arrested nor summonsed during as a result of those stops," said Browne.
City police statistics show more than 90 percent of the 575,000 people stopped and frisked by police were not arrested.
The bill now goes to the State Assembly.