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welcome to the David Pakman show New York City's
stop-and-frisk policy we've talked about it for quite some time
it is championed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as something that reduces
crime that has saved many many lives
and it turns out now that a federal judge
agrees that it is a policy that violates the Fourth
and Fourteenth Amendment that it unfairly I
targets or profiles people who are
not white and Michael Bloomberg is not happy about it there's a New York Times
article about this that sums it up well
a federal judge ruled that the stop-and-frisk tactics have the New York
Police Department violate the constitutional rights
minorities in the city this repudiates a major element
in the Bloomberg administration's crime-fighting legacy
the use if these police stops has been widely cited by city officials as the
linchpin of New York success story
in seeing murders and Major Crimes fall
to historic lows the police say the practice has saved the lives
if that I wasn't have young black and hispanic man by removing thousands of
guns
from the streets Louis before we get into the constitutionality the ruling in
the future
do you believe the claims from New York Police that it has saved thousands of
lives
i think thats probably impossible to determine
perhaps had it continued and maybe
yeah definitely but I don't think you can got you can put a number on it
like that you don't know how many these people were gonna kill other people with
the guns that they
confiscated the judge she rush I England found that the police department rip
resorted to a policy of indirect racial profiling as it increased the number
stops in minority communities
that has led to officers routinely stopping blacks and Hispanics
who would not have been stopped if they were white I think that is the key part
she talks in her 1995 page decision
about the stops violating the
Fourth Amendment which protects against the unreasonable searches and seizures
by the government
as well as the Fourteenth Amendments a Equal Protection Clause Michael
Bloomberg says the case was
deliberately I mishandled in a way that was not a fair trial he's going to
continue fighting it so
I'm interested in this let's say Michael Bloomberg is correct
that yes stop and frisk regardless I love
whether it unfairly or or in any kind of other about blanket way targets
minorities
it has prevented thousands of crimes thousands of murders even though
we don't know that is Lewis said let's for second suppose that is true
would you rather in this is an honest question I'm not asking it
as a rhetorical I'm not asking it is a push question
would you rather live in a country that has more crime
and doesn't violate people's rights or a country that has less crime but achieves
that by violating
people's rights personally what would it with your instinct Louis what would you
prefer
yeah that's that's a tough question personally I'm I'm never going to be
walking around
illegally with the guy and it's unfortunate
thats that the racial profiling comes into play
because it these cops could just as easily stop white people and and frisk
that as well
in fact Lewis as we talked about it might it wasn't last week I think it was
when
when no not during your vacation week we talked about how white people
in New York were disproportionately more likely that minorities to be even
carrying guns so we actually talked about
you know if it's true that this policy UHV
on have disproportionately stopping and frisking minorities has saved thousands
of lives
if you believe that it stands to reason
that stopping and frisking white people would actually have saved even more
lives but there doesn't seem to be an interest in changing that policy
now per dozen and it's hard to think of any other way to get illegal guns off
the street because there are legal
you don't know where they are unless you have some type a programmer you're
offering people tons of money to anonymously hand in their weapons
there's really no way to do it a buyback row program exactly alright
out the I'm opening it up to the audience let's say it does work would
you prefer rights be violated if you knew it reduced crime
and what are your thoughts on that I'm sure gonna get a lot of reaction