Kendall M. Virginia

Stop and Frisk in New York

I am writing to inform you of issues in our country that I believe should be fixed. It arose in New York City’s Police Department and it involves the stopping and frisking of minority individuals.

October 24, 2016

Dear President of the United States,

Congratulations for being elected as our next President of the United States. It is a great accomplishment to be presented with this honor. I am writing to inform you of issues in our country that I believe should be fixed. It arose in New York City’s Police Department and it involves the stopping and frisking of minority individuals.

Recently in New York City, police have been questioned for unconstitutional stop and frisks. The legal definition of stop and frisk that is used by the courts and police is a brief, non-intrusive, police stop of a suspect. The New York police department have been viewed as unconstitutional because they are focusing on stopping blacks and latinos rather than anyone who looks suspicious. A stop and frisk is supposed to help the police catch suspicious people on the streets and they base their suspicion off of probable cause. The police in New York are not basing their suspicion on only probable cause, but rather probable cause and their own views of people.

In order for the police to stop being unconstitutional in their stop and frisks we need to provide stricter laws in New York stating that they are not allowed to violate the fourth amendment nor only focus on stopping minority figures. For police in New York to follow these rules they will need to have harsher supervisors who will make sure that the officers abide to the laws. Thank you, Mr/Mrs. President for letting me express my views on an issue I think is a major problem in our country. I hope you are you able to look into detail and find a way to stop these unconstitutional stop and frisks in the city of New York.

Sincerely,

Kendall M

Works Cited

Hendrix, Nicole. Experience Criminal Justice. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print.

Hobson, Jeremy. "Bill Bratton: You Can't Police Without Stop-And-Frisk."WBUR. Here and Now,25 Feb. 2014. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.

“Stop and Frisk: The Human Impact.” Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Constitutional

Rights , 15 Jan. 2009

“Stop and Frisk.” LII / Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School.

"Stop and Frisk Practices | New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) - American Civil Liberties

Union of New York State." Stop and Frisk Practices | New York Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union of New York State. New York Civil Liberties Union, n.d. Web.06

"Terry Stop / Stop and Frisk." LII / Legal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School, n.d.

Web. 06 Oct. 2016. 

Eastern View High School

AP Language & Composition

AP Language & Composition students (11th grade) from Eastern View High School in Culpeper, VA are tasked with researching platforms, crafting political cartoons or pieces of satire, and writing letters and op-eds

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