The meetings look good on paper. The training looks good on TV. But the fundamental objection to Stop, Question and Frisk hasn't been addressed yet. Police are supposed to stop folks on the street only when there is a reasonable suspicion of a crime. Last year, that happened almost 700,000 times! Everyone wants the criminals behind bars. But the outcry won't subside until Mayor Bloomberg realizes that walking on a sidewalk is not suspicious.

The NYPD is trying to win public support over its controversial Stop, Question and Frisk policy. Last week, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly met with a new 12-member community advisory panel, including Rev. Calvin Butts and Rev. Herbert Daughtry. And today, police invited reporters to a facility in the Bronx for an overview of training procedures.

The training show-and-tell comes one day before the legislative session ends in Albany. Governor Cuomo said it's unlikely lawmakers will reach a deal on a bill to reduce penalties for minor marijuana possession. The bill would have lowered the number of arrests made during street stops, but wouldn't have addressed the stops themselves.

What's your reaction to Albany's inaction on a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana? Do you welcome the NYPD's efforts to meet with a community advisory panel over Stop, Question and Frisk? What question would you ask police trainers about street stop tactics?

Send your thoughts using the link above.

John,

They can meet until their heads blow up. Stopping and Frisking is a warrantless search specifically forbidden by the U. S. Constitution in Article 4.

Bloomberg and Kelly: Your reading assignment this weekend is to read the 4th Amendment and, in fact, the entire constitution. There are many violations by the both of you and the rest of your minion.

Joe
Port Richmond, SI

Hi John,

What I don't understand is that if someone doesn't like a law they can just call a meeting and get special attention and it can be resolved to go their way. What happens to the rest of us that are so annoyed at this point at the way the whole city is being run altogether. So we have to go along with this new bill now to change the law about the amount of marijuana in ones possession. So all this flack about the sugar drinks imposed on us plus all the other restrictions that has been forced upon us without even asking us our opinion. Plus this mayor created a scare tactic panel being the board of health to get his point across and again he wins.

THIS IS GETTING TO CRAZY. THESE PEOPLE HAVE DESTROYED THIS CITY. I STILL SEE THE SAME OLD WORN OUT FACES ON THE PODIUMS OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

Thank you John,
maxxiee
mp

The Police do not need additional training!

The Police Commissioner need to completely abolish Stop & frisk. If Mayor Bloomberg choose not to demonstrate REAL leadership & take the initiative to revamp or end the program in it's entirety, Then Maybe "we the people "should go to an elected official such as (Governor Cuomo) to issue an Executive Order to do away with the racial element of the Stop & Frisk program...

Romano

Reasonable suspicion, as defined by a few over-zealous nuts is not reasonable. Stop and frisk essentially lowers the bar of reasonable suspicion below anything recognizable to the average American. This is not London or 1943 Germany.

Frank, Sunset Park, Brooklyn

This despicable practice brings to mind the Jim Crow laws in the South of the last century. Bloomberg should be ashamed of himself. If they were doing this say, to mostly Jews, there would be an outcry so loud that it would be immediately stopped. But apparently our Mayor can't connect the dots here.

Gretchen
UWS

Bloomberg and Kelly are fools. They are building up so much hatred and rage in the minority communities, especially among the young men of those communities. It will come back and bite us all in the rear because of this incompetent, imperious fool of a mayor and his puppet police chief.

Frances
East Village

Dear Mr. Schiumo,

Analyzing this might help: In several cases the same person was stopped multi-times.

What was it that the police thought was suspiscious about these individuals? Note: they were innocent. for example, if a commono denominator comes up with these particular
stops, how does it compare with people who were stopped and actually found in possession of weapons.

George
Manhattan

When year after year, 82% of the folks you stop, question, & frisk are totally innocent of any crime, you KNOW you are doing something wrong. Stop & Frisk needs to be either seriously amended...or canceled completely if the NYPD refuses to fix the problems.

Black & Hispanic young men have Constitutional rights, too.

-Dan from Rego Park

the training is a bunch of hooey. cops can legally stop someone if they have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed. So what happened with those nearly 700,000 stops? can't cops tell black people apart? were they all suspects in some sort of criminal activity, like walking down the street while black? the humiliation, degradation and embarassment caused by stop and frisk is so psychologically harmful that a young man's self esteem can be permanently damaged, especially if someone is stopped numerous times, which happens quite often. the policy is racial profiling plain and simple and it's a blight on this city.

meryl from manhattan

After seeing two undercover MALE officers "frisking" a 16-ish year old girl who was beautiful, I knew that most of these stops are for other reasons... This young girl should haveNEVER been touched by a male cop yet Both of the MALE officers fot a feel. Disgusting.

I stuck around to see that they "let her go".

Michele
College Point, Queens

This may have looked good on paper, but in reality what we have is an overly abused tactic used only in lower income areas. All it does is further the racial divide and make it more difficult for good citizens to get on with their lives.

Patrick from Astoria

Putting the problems w/SQF aside we cannot forget that it IS NOT WORKING. So everyone saying we need it to get guns of the street aren't looking at the NYPD's own stats. Shootiings are up as are more stops. We need to focus on policies that work.

New trainings and community taskforces are always welcome. In this case it's being used in place of real change. Unacceptable! End vs Mend is a misguided question. Police always have the right to stop for reasonable suspicion. We must end the abuses of that, period!

City Councilman Jumaane Williams

Stop and search is a bias act against the poor. I don't see stop and search in flushing queens or in Jackson heights. Do these area get special treatments. Their is prostitution and drugs in these neighbourhoods.

Joy

Crimes are "higher" in minority neighborhoods because the police look there fro crime. Just as much crime occurs on and around Wall Street, but I don't hear about those guys being stopped and frisked.

Fernando
Brooklyn

Article 4 of the US constitution was written before the goons and gangbangers in baggy pants and hoodies were packing heat. It ain't a color issue its a real life crime issue. When the liberal white boys start getting killed again uptown all this hoopla will end.

Jimmy from the Bronx.

Stop and Frisk is a good idea in theory but we have to understand we still live in a very racist country. Face it have you seen a group of cops just waiting to grab someone and frisk them in any of the other boroughs other than those where minorities live. I see cops stand in a corner looking at people and stooping them left and right because of their skin color. Every single one of my friends who are minorities have been stopped and frisked, humiliated in front of people most of them good college students. The people that are using the argument that it is a good policy and if you dont have nothing to hide it shouldn't bother you .....umm try walking down the street and being stopped almost every other day, basically criminalizing you for simply having the wrong skin color. I dont see cops stooping and frisking people in Central Park!!!

Veronica

Hi Everyone,

The damage has already been done, 1000's of young men have been evicted from their home & family for non felony offenses (tiny amts of marijuana) they are separated from their families as well as unemployable be most employer's what happens to them? what about the mothers who worry 24 7 about their son. What happens to them?

Alex in Harlem.

My name is Stephanie of Harlem:

I think that this policy breeds disdain for authority on the whole, it is not effective and it should be outlawed. Crime will always be a part of this society, all forms of crimes committed by all types of people. However, if poor people are being harassed because of the color of their skin, what type of message is being sent and perpetuate. There are people from other aspect of this society that commits crime, and yet they are not harassed and continue to commit crimes that have detriment to millions of people. I understand that crime is high, but there should be a more complex approach to quell crime. Stop and frisk is a simplistic lazy way of attempting to deal with crime, period. No type of training with help this policy because Police Officers are humans and they come with built-in biases.

Maybe all whites who support the stops and frisks should stop being such two faces and admit also to this crime against certain citizens and call it what it is RACIAL PROFILING and propose a bill to your localTea party/Republican candidate that would amend that pesky constitution and it's 4th amendment to include the words... Every one who ain't white is not protected under this "inalienable" right

-Francisco

Hello John,

I believe stop and frisk is a good thing. I am white and I have been stopped and frisked and I do not mind.If it does get guns off the street I am all for it. Too many illegal guns in this city. The officers were very polite and apologized and said have a good night. I have always said, if you are not doing anything wrong you will not have anything to worry about.

Have a great nite,
John
LES

So now they can "courteously" trample on our rights? The police commissioner is out of control, Bloomberg is out of control and it's shocking that those effected haven't revolted against the policy. It's applied unequally, it's racist and shameful.

Jeff in the LES (a white guy)

A wise man once told me that “The truth only hurts when you don’t use it.” Well the truth is white kids in Princes Bay Staten Island are not carrying guns, the may have some pot or some pills or even some cocaine,but not guns. The guns are in the poor areas of the city where the crime is mostly minority on minority . Don’t be mad at the cops for trying to make your neighborhood better , blame the young people bring guns and drugs into your neighborhoods. When they asked Willie Sutton why he robed banks he said” that’s where the money”at” . Well if the cops are in your area then that’s where the guns are at.

N.L.

It not easy being a black man in the 21st century. Do certain areas get special treatment. Is new york becoming a police state this mayor is evil and a dangerous individual.

Zhou

The NYPD is doing a great job, crime is high in those particular neighborhoods, unfortunetely minorities are the one commiting most of the crimes, New Yorkers should stop complaining about the stop and frisk and let the police to do their job.

Ana

I do not feel the problem is with the stop and frisk. I feel the problem is with the members of the police department that are conducting the stop and frisk. While we were so busy becoming politically correct by lowering the standards of the job and the difficulty of the test we inadvertently did not hire the best suited men and women for the job. I took the first nypd test offered to woman and scored a 98. I am not a good test taker. My boyfriend (who was puerto rican) who had been on the job for a while showed me his test and it was so difficult I would have failed. Cops., good cops, intelligent cops, develop a sixth sense after being on the job. They can smell trouble. I think if the nypd was comprised of more intelligent men and woman, they would handle their power in a different manner and understand that stop and frisk is suppose to diffuse problems on the street not create more. Bring back a test deserving of the nypd.

Donna

It is NOT about race... My sons have all been stopped and frisked...they are white and two of them are EAGLE SCOUTS..it is more about the ABUSE OF POWER... If the police learned how to behave, it would be more tolerable.

As the saying goes, 99% of cops make the rest look bad.

Michele

Hello John,

While I don't think the stop, search, and frisk is right, if it is going to be done, it should be done in all neighbors to all people. Additionally, when and if a person is stopped, the officers must be be courteous and respectful. As a law-abidding African American male, I would be somewhat offended if I were singled out for stop, search, and frisk.

Nate

My name is jay and I am from Harlem. As a man of color who has been stopped numerous times. I am still not against stop and frisk if it has legitimately reduced violent crime. If it saves one life it's well worth it. That being said I would also ask viewers who see nothing wrong with the policy to ask themselves if they got stopped at a clothing store for shoplifting. Knowing they did nothing and embarrassed and humiliated amongst their peers and fellow shoppers how would they feel. I'm m sure outraged and wrongly singled out.

the nypd,,,is doing a great job with so many guns on the streets of ny,,especially in hi crime areas,,not to mention the threats on nyc,,and terrorism,,we are living in a new world,,its time to figth back on crime,,it has nothing to do with race,,,keep up the good work,,p.s..how fast we foget 9/11

AC

Agree 100% with Joanne Naughton. [OUR FIRST WORD CALLER TONIGHT.] Stop and Frisk is really bad. I have seen video and observed so much violations on Black and Hispanic males, young and old and now even women for suspicion of nothing but color or assumption they might use marijuana. Illegal searches and seizures. Think its devastating. Think cops waste so much time stopping and frisking in these high crime neighborhoods when real crime is committed they cant prevent it or see it.

Aleah
A nurse from Brooklyn

I was stop and frisk up on 167street they pulled over the black taxi I was in with guns drawn.I live in the area. I am a white male 40 in age. I just ate dinner and hailed a cab. The cab drove one block before it pulled over. They pulled me out of the cab. . They ask me if I had drugs or weapons on me I responded I said no I am a school teacher. They said we have bust teachers with drugs. The entire stop and frisk was over in three minutes. Three undercover officers. Jumped out of a black van when they pull my cab over.

Wayne

The problem with the stop and frisk policy is that although some neighborhoods have higher rates of crime, the searches in these neighborhoods are not producing the expected results. Research shows that 9 out of 10 stops do not result in an arrest or ticket. The uproar over the stop and frisk policy does not start with this policy, It extends back to the disproportionate surveillance of poor communities and communities of color. Historically and currently these communities are more likely to receive heavier surveillance and more searches, this as expected can anger a community if they feel that they are being targeted and the searches are not producing the expected results. This history in combination with the unconstitutional manner in which most of the searches are conducted must be taken into account. The city should search areas more evenly or even find the root of the issue because the stop and frisk policy is not deterring individuals from criminal acts and illegal possession. Crime happens everywhere my people of all works alike whether the neighborhood is affluent or poor. People from poorer neighborhoods and neighborhoods of color do not necessarily commit crimes at a much higher rate than individuals from other neighborhoods it is that the authorities are around to see when the tree falls in the former neighborhoods and not the latter.

Daquan from East Harlem.