At 'Stop-And-Frisk' Trial, Cops Describe Quota-Driven NYPD : NPR: Police officers testifying at a federal trial challenging New York City's stop-and-frisk policy say they were ordered to increase their number of arrests, summons and 250s — the code for stop, question and frisk.
Some 5 million street stops of mostly black and Latino men have taken place in the city in the last decade.
The city contends that the policy has helped make New York safer, leading to record-low crime rates, and that stop-and-frisks take place in areas where crime is often minority on minority. The plaintiffs argue the policy pressures police officers to increase their street stops and that supervisors and union reps cared only about numbers.
In opening statements, the city said there were safeguards in place and these were simply performance goals. Not so, said Jonathan Moore, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
"This is about quotas. At the end of the day, it's about quotas," he said. "That's why there is such an epidemic in these communities of people getting stopped and frisked — because the police are told to get numbers, and they are not interested in the numbers of radio runs or how they help. They are interested in arrests, summons and 250s."
