Debate on the New York Police Department’s ‘Stop and Frisk’ policy reached a fever pitch this month as officials trade barbs amid what has thus far been a hot and volatile summer in many of the nation’s metropolitan areas, including New York, which saw 77 people shot in the first week of July, a 12 percent increase over the same period last year.
On Monday, WNYC - New York Public Radio, posted an analysis showing about 770 guns recovered from over 680,000 stops across the city last year – a rate of about one-tenth of one percent.There also remains the question of whether the policy is legal under the fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits, “unreasonable searches and seizures.”
Joining us on this edition of Vox Pop to address these issues is Albany Law School professor Vince Bonventre, author of New York Court Watcher, a blog devoted to commentary on developments at the U.S. Supreme Court, the New York Court of Appeals, and other state supreme courts nationwide, and founder and director of the Center for Judicial Process. WAMC’s Alan Chartock hosts.