Stop and Frisk has always been a touchy subject in New York City, mostly because its became an excuse for the NYPD to discriminate against young minority males, especially Black and Latino. The video featured in The Nation article Stopped-and-Frisked: 'For Being a F**king Mutt' [VIDEO]
presents the bleak truth about New York City's "finest." Not only does this video include a recording of Harlem teen, Alvin's stop-and-frisk encounter with 2 NYPD bullies, it also features testimonials from other youth and NYPD officers, whose identities are hidden. But what was really shocking was the testimonials from the NYPD officers who did not want to engage in stop-and-frisk citations, but were reprimanded by their commanding officers to do so.
For so long the dialogue around Stop and Frisk has been NYPD against NYC minority youth; a quote from the article, “The civilian population, they’re being hunted by us,” says an officer with more than ten years on the job. “Instead of being protected by us, they’re being hunted and we’re being hated.” And that has been the perspective of this topic for as long as I can remember. It was only through this video that I can see that not all NYPD are bullies, that the top-down power structure creates policy that NYPD should act like bullies (similar to bell hooks idea that patriarchy is harmful to men because it doesn't allow them to be who they really are, rather ascribe the ideals of "masculinity"). I came across this video weeks ago and truly appreciated the direction this narrative went; it created a new branch of dialogue to talk about stop-and-frisk.
Thank you for sharing this video . This a great alternative vision to the issues we face in our city. We tend to only see the outer layer, and these 13 minutes reminded me that it is a manufactured system by the power structure (government). I think we are living in times where the police has turned into a local occupation, where police are staring to act as soldiers. Training to hunt civilians instead of protecting them.
ReplyDeleteNot to mentioned the fact that we live in a society based on numbers. From the Social Security number, to our body measurements, IQ tests, quotas $$…. ectttt.. ha!