A day after being excoriated by Federal Judge Shira A. Scheindlin for NYPD's “facially unlawful stops” and “deeply troubling apathy towards New Yorkers’ most fundamental constitutional rights”, PD Commissioner Raymond Kelly was in full CYA mode. In a three page letter sent to City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Kelly proffered "new measures" that he claimed would reduce the number of illegitimate stops; however, as he failed to address the legitimacy of the stop-and-frisk program, his proposals can only be seen as an attempt to whitewash the illegality of the NYPD's unconstitutional harassment of innocent men of color.
And the critics of Mayor Mike Bloomberg's stop and frisk program immediately pounced on Kelly's pathetic excuse of a plan:
Critics of the Police Department, however, said that if the intent of the changes was to resolve issues raised by a lawsuit against the department, which Judge Shira A. Scheindlin of Federal District Court elevated to class-action status on Wednesday, they fell short. Mr. Kelly’s letter included no substantive policy change, said Eugene J. O’Donnell, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.Emphasis Mine“It is being depicted as ‘a misunderstanding by the troops in the field, or nefarious conduct by the troops in the field,’ and not as, ‘We at One Police Plaza are searching our conscience and trying to find ways to make policy changes,’” Professor O’Donnell said. “It skirts all of the issues that were raised by the judge.”
Ms. Quinn, who disclosed the letter from Mr. Kelly, said that the steps were significant but that more must be done.
“With these actions today,” she said in a statement, “Commissioner Kelly and the N.Y.P.D. are taking an important step forward, however more must be done to significantly reduce the number of stops and to bridge the divide between the N.Y.P.D. and the communities they serve.”
More after the Kosschach Ink Blot