Reactions to the Hunted and the Hated

The idea that New York City police officers are forced to comprehend with this “Stop-and-Frisk” policy is a hugely controversial topic. The police are supposed to protect the community, but now they are targeted by society. Therefore, when citizens are walking in the streets, they are always going to be afraid that police are going to stop them, for no apprehension. The Hunted and the Hated: An Inside Look at the NYPD’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy shows an abnormal state of contamination inside the police drive and gives an extraordinary translation of the New York City police compel that corresponds with the elements that reason doubt toward the police.

The film demonstrates a scope of police misconduct, which includes the abuse of police officers targeting minorities. It shows how police ultimately abuse their power, and it causes distrust between the community and the police. However, my initial reaction towards The Hunted and the Hated: An Inside Look at the NYPD’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy was “Shocking!”

Initially, I was surprised at how it started with the police recordings between Alvin and the encounter with the police. It scared me to hear the police cursing at him and threatening to punch him in the face. But the real “shocking” factor that got to me was the way the film depicted how police do this to 1800 people a day! The film starts with Alvin, who is seventeen years old, and on June 3rd, 2011, he was walking from his girlfriend’s house when two police officers had stopped him. Alvin stated that they had done this to him previously, but he had no evidence that this happened. So, he decided to record the altercation, and it was frightening to hear. It is pretty alarming if one of us were to think about how it would feel like to be stop-and-frisked when you are entirely innocent. The Stop and Frisk strategy gives officers the purview to stop and hunt any person that may derive any suspicious qualities. Every individual can be addressed utilizing the doubt of conveying a hid weapon, respects of their whereabouts, scanned for illegal medications, and other prohibits that may hurt network individuals. Though, in most cases, individuals have none of these items. In this way, it might be said, there is a broad scope of variables that lead to doubt to the police and their neighborhood networks, but The Hunted and the Hated: An Inside Look at the NYPD’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy shows a preview of how much authority these police officers have.

Based on the film, I believe that corruption and racial bias and critical jobs in causing network doubt. Corruption, which is the leading factor in power abuse is significant in the film. One of the quotes that an anonymous NYPD veteran stated was that a captain walked into the precinct and gave a speech about violating rights, and he said: “We’re gonna go out there, and we’re gonna violate some rights.” They feel as though they have the right to do as they please, and they know the government has their back. What matters the most to police officers is having their quotas, because according to the film, if you do not meet your quota, the cops will be subjected to disciplinary. They want to meet quotas because they know that someday they will have a higher position, and it will benefit them. Racial bias seems to be a factor within the “Stop-and-Frisk” policy because most of these police officers is stopping men who are Latino and African-Americans; in other words, minorities. In 2012, more than 85% of people who were stop-and-frisked were Black and Hispanic people. It would make the world unbalanced and difficult to live in, which is how life is for the minorities who are impacted by this policy. One of the most debated and controversial topics in New York City is the Stop and Frisk policy, and the impact it has on police, Latinos, and African Americans. Stop, and Frisk fails to promote justice and equitable society because it creates a community where one group is lesser than another. Lastly, the idea that scared people is not able to tell their story. The point of this essay is not to say that all police officers are like this, but it is to say that some police officers do not like the idea of this, but ultimately it is their job and life on the line. Forces you to do things you do not want to do, and nobody wants to hear the dreadful.

Racial Profiling in “Stop-and-Frisk”

Though corruption is a significant topic in this film, I believe that it all ties up with racial profiling. These police officers feel as though they have some authority over these individuals. In the film, Trevor, who is 19, had the same experience as Alvin, 17. In the film, he states, “They just don’t got no respect for us, and they wonder why we don’t have the same respect for them. And, for them to just call him a name like that… it is just crazy.” These two teenagers, who are both Latino and African-American, feel as though their rights are violated because of how these White-male police officers mistreat them and call them names. According to Butler, he states, Police routinely draw their guns during Terry stops in high-crime neighborhoods. For example, Jeff Fagan’s expert report in the recent case Floyd v. The city of New York found that in New York “force was 14 percent more likely to be used in stops of Blacks compared to White suspects, and 9.3 percent more likely for Hispanics'” (2014, page 61). Only five years ago this article was presented, and it seems to be that minorities are targeted. In our textbook, Burns states that “Frisks are permitted if the officer has reasonable belief that the suspect poses a threat to the officer or others. The protection of lives is the sole purpose of frisking suspicious individuals (del Carmen, 2007)” (2014, 330-331). In most of these cases, this does not seem to be the case; they are going up to these individuals without any reason that they would be harming the lives of others. For example, in the film, when Officer Tuttle tells Alvin that he looked suspicious because he had his hoodie on, seems to be ridiculous. This relates to when Reuss-Ianni states, “Frequently, they will spot someone who ‘looks dirty’ and follow them until they either leave the precinct boundaries, or the officers decide that they are relatively “clean, at least for tonight,” or until they violate some law that is observed by the officers and are picked up immediately” (1983, page 108). This ultimately does not seem morally correct or responsible as a police officer.

Racism, on its own, is a compelling topic that seems to be relevant in our point in time today. One would think that after many powerful movements and through the years, that race would be equal by now, but that does not seem to be the case. In Butler’s article, he shares a surprising story about a young boy that states, “In 2012, the New York Times published an article about Tyquan Brehon, an African-American male who claimed that he had been “unjustifiably stopped by the police more than sixty times” before he turned eighteen years old” (2014, page 64). That is unbelievable! This is unfortunate for young minorities because it can lead to many outcomes, such as depression and a fear of leaving their home, as described in the article. The topic of stop-and-frisk, as stated before, has entirely to do with abusing their power and taking advantage of another. Burns describes a force on an individual, stating, “To begin, it infringes on an individual’s right to freedom. It also reinforces the belief that the police will use whatever it takes to control, the less powerful groups in society, and it contributes to a lack of respect for the police” (2014, 363). In the film, The Hunted and the Hated: An Inside Look at the NYPD’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy, they give a horrifying story about how they abuse their power against minorities. The anonymous NYPD veteran stated that two minorities were standing on the wall, minding their own business, and his sergeant ordered him to write that they were blocking pedestrian traffic, if you are a certain ethnicity, they have no problem searching and violating their rights. This concludes the idea that police officers want to abuse their power for their benefits. To me, this is absurd, and it makes me no longer trust police officers entirely. I believe those police officers use the “Stop-and-Frisk” policy to show that they are at a much higher standard than others. The reason as to why these resources are useful to my point is since racial profiling is an enormous problem in our society. It causes distrust between our local communities and our precinct. After all, are we not supposed to feel protected by these officers? Apparently not, I would say.

In conclusion, the point of this isn’t to propose that all cops are racists, as in they have hostility towards Blacks or Hispanics exclusively based on their race. Racial hostility isn’t essential to take an interest in or be an assistant to a national subjection framework. The point of this is to make it aware that we are dealing with racial profiling today. Burns makes an essential statement about Stop-and-Frisks, in which he says, “In conducting the stop, officers must self-identify as police officers and make reasonable inquiries” (2014, page 330). According to the film, there were no “reasonable inquiries” involved in Alvin’s case. Also, according to the anonymous police officers who chose to speak up in The Hunted and the Hated: An Inside Look at the NYPD’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy repeatedly talk about how officers stop innocent people, they run around and stop everybody. When police departments put pressure on officers, the “us vs. quota” game exists, and this game would mean that the individuals are being hunted, and the officers are being targeted. Butler leaves a burning statement towards the end of his article that states, “Some readers may find it difficult to make the mental connection between slavery, lynching, police brutality, and stop and frisk as all part of the same racial subordination scheme” (2014, page 68). To me, this seems to be why there are always videos on social media showing that minorities are continually protesting against our government. They feel as though they are being targeted for the color of their skin, and the way they look. In the ending of the film, Alvin concludes that he once wanted to be an officer because of how much he wanted to help people, but now he does not want to be a part of that community. He now views the police as individuals who want to stop and humiliate others, to make them feel bad about themselves. I wish there were some way to encourage Alvin, because maybe if he joined the police force, he would be able to change the way the system works. For now, we need to be compelled to keep fighting to improve Stop-and-Frisk policies.

In Summary/ Final Thoughts

Racial-profiling will always be the “hot topic” when it comes to police vs. the community. The Stop-and-Frisk policy should be analyzed and changed because it is not fair that minorities seem to be mistreated. If they see someone with “baggy pants,” they will stop them because they need the quota and they look dangerous, which is absurd to me. I am interested in this topic, and I would like to do something about it. Something that I had in mind regarding this would be to write some petition, to change the policies within the policing communities to make New York and other states a better place to live in. Individuals should not be afraid to walk out of their house, and it is not right whatsoever. The film The Hunted and the Hated: An Inside Look at the NYPD’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy helps us to reiterate the fact that police officers can become corrupt and it leads to adverse consequences for us. The idea of Stop-and-Frisk, similar to torment light, exhibits which are in charge, and the rough results of the dispute.

Did you like this example?

1028

54