By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK — Responding to concerns about statistics showing it searched more than a half-million pedestrians last year, the New York Police Department has hired the Rand Corp. to examine its stop-and-frisks for evidence of racial bias, police officials said Wednesday.
It was the second time this year that the research group has been commissioned to review police tactics. In January, it began an analysis of firearms training in the wake of the shooting of an unarmed man in a hail of 50 police bullets.
Though the NYPD denies race influences the pedestrian stops, officials “thought it was important to have a separate, independent review, and we turned to Rand once again because of its reputation for objectivity and quality results,” Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in a statement.
Statistics provided by the police department to the City Council earlier this month showed a fivefold increase since 2002 in the number in stops and searches to more than 500,000 in 2006. Police insist the stops are a valuable crimefighting tool, especially when it comes to taking illegal guns off the streets.
The majority of people stopped, 55 percent, were black, the numbers show. About 30 percent were Hispanic, and 11 percent were white. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 25 percent of the city’s population is black, 28 percent is Hispanic and 44 percent is white.
Kelly said Rand experts would observe how officers on the streets conduct and record the stops and would review data on past stops to assess whether there are any racial disparities. Police put the cost at about $100,000 (euro75,694) and said it would be paid for by a private fundraising foundation.
Last month, the NYPD said Rand would look for ways to reduce the risk of so-called “reflexive” or “contagious” shooting, the phenomenon of officers firing an excessive number of rounds in a chain reaction.
In November, five officers using semiautomatic pistols fired a total of 50 times while trying to stop a car on Nov. 25 outside a topless bar in Queens, killing the driver, Sean Bell, hours before his wedding and injuring two of his friends. Police, who were conducting an undercover operation at the bar, have said they suspected the men were going to retrieve a gun to settle a dispute, but no weapon was recovered.
The shooting sparked community outrage, especially among blacks, and prompted a grand jury investigation to determine whether the officers should face criminal charges. The victims in the shooting were black; the officers were black and white.
The officers were put on leave pending the outcome of the investigation.