EFFECTIVE POLICE/COMMUNITY RELATIONS AS A CURE TO STOP, QUESTION AND FRISK
EFFECTIVE POLICE/COMMUNITY RELATIONS AS A CURE “TO STOP, QUESTION AND FRISK” By Sidique Wai, 2013 candidate for Public Advocate (WAI4NY.COM)
The glorious days when police officers were posted on most street corners in neighborhoods throughout New York City is long gone! So are the days when neighborhood youths could would glowingly talk about a beat cop as a friend and role model that they conferred with in times of need. Today, political posturing to gather votes has often found politicians invoking the term” Community Policing”, implying that there should and must be posted police officers on every street corner in New York City is also wishful thinking. Those luxurious days are no more and will hardly come back to New York City Streets, when the same legislators are the same ones that are imposing draconian budget cuts on a police department that is overburdened and operating with uniformed personnel short of almost 6,000 men and women in uniform. Compounding this problem is the unfortunate and tragic incident of 9/11 during which over 3,000 men and women including NYPD, FDNY personnel and innocent civilians lost their lives to terrorist attack by AL-QUAEDA operatives, thereby creating a new level of fear and mistrust between uniformed police personnel and civil society in communities throughout New York City. Not helping the situation is the proliferation of illegal drugs, guns, mental health issues and chronic unemployment amongst youths that quite frequently feel under siege by public safety personnel for truant behaviors during public encounters with law enforcement personnel. The irony however is that almost eighty percent of all homicides on New York City Streets are caused by almost 90 % of black and brown peoples against each other. In the meantime, Law Enforcement personnel and administrators are expected to provide public safety to over 8.3 million people residing in neighborhoods throughout New York City streets.
All of
The glorious days when police officers were posted on most street corners in neighborhoods throughout New York City is long gone! So are the days when neighborhood youths could would glowingly talk about a beat cop as a friend and role model that they conferred with in times of need. Today, political posturing to gather votes has often found politicians invoking the term” Community Policing”, implying that there should and must be posted police officers on every street corner in New York City is also wishful thinking. Those luxurious days are no more and will hardly come back to New York City Streets, when the same legislators are the same ones that are imposing draconian budget cuts on a police department that is overburdened and operating with uniformed personnel short of almost 6,000 men and women in uniform. Compounding this problem is the unfortunate and tragic incident of 9/11 during which over 3,000 men and women including NYPD, FDNY personnel and innocent civilians lost their lives to terrorist attack by AL-QUAEDA operatives, thereby creating a new level of fear and mistrust between uniformed police personnel and civil society in communities throughout New York City. Not helping the situation is the proliferation of illegal drugs, guns, mental health issues and chronic unemployment amongst youths that quite frequently feel under siege by public safety personnel for truant behaviors during public encounters with law enforcement personnel. The irony however is that almost eighty percent of all homicides on New York City Streets are caused by almost 90 % of black and brown peoples against each other. In the meantime, Law Enforcement personnel and administrators are expected to provide public safety to over 8.3 million people residing in neighborhoods throughout New York City streets.
All of