Stop and frisk continues to be controversial, and the New York Civil Liberties Union made another allegation on Wednesday. NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman charged that in addition toharassing too many minorities, police also rack up a sizable number of marijuana arrests through stop and frisk that probably wouldn't happen otherwise, according to the Daily News.
Of 532,911 stops last year, 89% did not result in an arrest or summons. But of those who were arrested, 5,307, or 16%, were charged with pot possession, the NYCLU analysis found.
Too often, the group said, police trick men into taking the drug out of a pocket because if it's in plain view, they can be charged with a misdemeanor.
Donna Lieberman, the NYCLU's executive director, said the numbers suggested that the stop-and-frisk initiative is "a Trojan horse for a marijuana arrest program." But Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly called that a "silly analogy."
In February, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that offenders picked up for small amounts of marijuana would be released with tickets instead of formal charges in order to ease court and jail congestions.
Read more at the Daily News.