It looks like the New York City city council has finally decided that they’ve had enough of Mayor Bloomberg’s Stop and Frisk policy. With veto-proof majorities they have passed one bill to create an Inspector General and one bill that “expands the definition of racial profiling and allows people who believe they have been profiled to sue police in state court.” Bloomberg says he will veto both bills, but he can’t prevent an override of his vetoes.
I doubt it matters legally or morally, but I wonder if it’s possible to estimate how effective this draconian policy has been in lessening the incidence of violent crime in the city. Among the 33 cities in the country with a population over 500,000, New York city ranks third-safest, trailing only El Paso, Texas and San Diego, California. By contrast, Philadelphia ranks as the fourth most dangerous, ahead of only Memphis, Baltimore, and Detroit. The turnaround in New York’s crime rate began in the 1990’s, during Mayor Giuliani’s terms in office, and it’s reflective of a nationwide decline in violent crime that has many possible explanations. Some think that removing lead from the environment could be a major cause. I really don’t know.
But I think New Yorkers have tolerated tough on crime policies, even when they clearly violate the 4th Amendment, because they seem to be working.
For whatever reason, that tolerance seems to have come to an end.
