Study Finds No Citywide Racial Profiling in N.Y. Cop Stops
A study by Rand Corp. (PDF) confirmed that almost 90 percent of pedestrians stopped by New York police in 2006 were minorities, but said the raw statistics “distort the magnitude and, at times, the existence of racially biased policing.”
The study said that after adjusting for circumstances surrounding the stops, there were only small differences in rates at which police frisked, arrested and used force against white and nonwhite pedestrians, the New York Post reports.
However, the review raised questions about disparities in police stops on Staten Island, the New York Daily News reports. It also found that police in south Brooklyn were more likely to use force against blacks who had been stopped than whites.
The report drew criticism from civil rights advocates, the Associated Press reports.
”This report is scandalous,” said Christopher Dunn, a lawyer with the New York Civil Liberties Union. “The black community continues to bear the brunt of police stops, blacks continue to be singled out for stops that don’t ever result in an arrest and the police department continues its efforts to justify these practices.”
