Though it's already the worst kept secret, this pretty much proves that the NYPD's "stop-and-frisk" initiative is motivated by racial profiling. The federal lawsuit against the policy is already underway, and yesterday, an audio clip of a commanding officer criticizing a subordinate for not meeting "stop-and-frisk" quotas was played.
In the clip, Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack (second image) tells Officer Pedro Serrano (not to be confused with Pedro Cerrano from Major League) that he has to stop “the right people at the right time, the right location.” When Serrano asks for clarification, McCormack says "The problem was, what, male blacks. And I told you at roll call, and I have no problem telling you this, male blacks 14 to 20, 21." Serrano secretly recorded the conversation.
Lawyers for the Center for Constitutional Law claim that the NYPD uses the phrase "the right people" to refer to African-Americans and Hispanics. It's been well-documented that minorities are the most frequently stopped under stop-and-frisk—531,000 people were stopped last year; 51 percent were black and 32 percent were Hispanic.
According to the New York Times, Serrano—who is Hispanic—testified that performing stop-and-frisks on other minorities was "not a good feeling," and secretly recorded the conversation because he was unhappy with what he was being ordered to do.
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