Q&A
Concerns about abuse of power and racial disparities in stop and frisk practices
1:58:09
·
3 min
Council Member Diana I. Ayala expresses concerns about the abuse of power and racial disparities in stop and frisk practices, sharing personal experiences and calling for recognition of these issues from the NYPD.
- Ayala cites examples of her son being stopped multiple times without justification
- She highlights the disproportionate impact on black and brown communities
- Ayala calls for NYPD to acknowledge and address racial disparities in policing
- She emphasizes the need for changes in NYPD culture to prevent unjustified stops
Diana I. Ayala
1:58:09
Yeah.
1:58:09
And I and I'll I'll just add look.
1:58:10
I I do see that and I I recognize that stop and frisk was a tool that was used, right, to stop crime or prevent crime from occurring.
1:58:19
I get that.
1:58:20
I think that it's it's the way that it's used, has shown to be abusive.
1:58:26
Right?
1:58:26
There there's been a lot of abuse of power from NYPD officers as it relates to stop and frisk.
1:58:33
My son has been, you know, on the receiving end of that, coming out of his building, walking to the store, stops to talk to his friends in front of his own building, gets stopped.
1:58:43
Right?
1:58:44
He's walking, you know, to work, helps a lady to carry her carriage into the building.
1:58:49
He gets stopped because he looks like somebody.
1:58:51
So it's it's when it happens enough times and it it's not it's no longer a coincidence, right, then there's something obviously in the universe of policing that is skewed against people of a specific community, of specific, identity.
1:59:06
And that's the part I think that we're here to learn is how, you know, have we applied, those lessons learned, the new, policies around stop and frisk to reduce the numbers and to ensure that we're not stopping, you know, young men and women of color just because they live in a specific community.
1:59:28
Right?
1:59:28
And and you can you know, and I I and I can if you if you tell me, well, you know, council member, the reason that, you know, in this specific reason is because that's you know, you had a lot more crime there, then, it kinda makes sense, but it I don't believe that crime is not happening in other precincts as well.
1:59:44
So the the fact that the demographics are primarily made up of black and brown people doesn't look good.
1:59:49
Right?
1:59:50
And so there has to be an explanation for that that makes sense to us, right, as as legislators so that, you know, we're better able to work with the NYPD to ensure that, you know, this is not happening.
2:00:05
Right?
2:00:05
That we're not just stopping people.
2:00:06
And so that's why I asked a question about implicit bias because I think that because policing is a difficult job and, you know, and I've seen I've I've seen it.
2:00:15
You know, I I I I work very closely with my officers, and I have no problem holding the NYPD or anybody else a task when I think something is wrong.
2:00:24
But I do acknowledge that it is a very difficult job.
2:00:26
But I think in the course of that, right, you have to make these, decisions in rapid turnaround.
2:00:33
Mistakes are often made.
2:00:34
And the fact that they're consistently made in communities like mine is problematic.
2:00:39
And so I think that what I like to hear from these, you know, interactions is recognition.
2:00:44
Like, look.
2:00:45
You know, it isn't it isn't a perfect system.
2:00:48
Right?
2:00:48
We're looking at the numbers, and we agree, right, that there is a significantly higher census data for black and brown people.
2:00:55
This is why.
2:00:56
Alright?
2:00:57
Or we're trying to figure out what the why and change that, because implicit bias, I believe, does play a significant part of those stops.
2:01:06
I believe that, you know, our our young kids are walking around, you know, with their pants down.
2:01:11
They're walking around, you know, as, Sammy said, with a book bag that may have a brush, you know, on it and somebody saw it and, you know, maybe assumed the wrong thing.
2:01:21
But these interactions are very traumatic.
2:01:24
So it's not you know, if if the arrests are not significant enough, right, that lend to the argument that the stop and frisk is a a valuable such a valuable tool to the NYPD, then something is gonna have to change in the culture of the NYPD in the way that you do this.
2:01:43
Right?
2:01:43
And I don't I think that it would be really nice to kinda hear that from the NYPD as opposed to having legislators force that upon you.
Jeffrey Maddrey
2:01:49
Well, let me just address something.
Diana I. Ayala
2:01:51
That makes sense.
Jeffrey Maddrey
2:01:52
No.
