When the NYPD stop-and-frisks someone on the street — statisically black or Hispanic — their paperwork is going to change. According to the New York Daily News, cops will have to now have to fill out forms with written explanations for they’re conducting the controversial tactic.
That is far different than the current protocol, which only requires the police to check a box justifying the stop. The forms could be incorporated as early as next year, and they also will include contact information for the Civilian Complaint and Review Board, said the News. It will give citizens a direct path to the body that investigates complaints of police misconduct. It was that same board that investigated and brought charges against police officer Wilson Gomez for illegally stopping and frisking a man in Brooklyn back in 2011. Gomez pleaded guilty and was docked 15 days’ pay.
The reason for the overhaul? In 2013, a judge ruled that stop-and-frisk violated the rights of minorities in the city. Judge Shira Scheindlin said that the current forms with checkboxes were designed to give officers a route to justify stops after the fact when there wasn’t possibly a valid reason for it.
(Photo: MaxLib/Flickr)
