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SUZANNE GAMBOA Associated Press= WASHINGTON (AP) New York officials from threelevels of government asked the Justice Department on Thursday toconsider investigating the city police department's stop-and-friskprogram for overwhelmingly targeting minorities. The delegation of city, state and federal officials also asked in ameeting Thursday that the agency intervene on lawsuits challengingthe police tactic and assist them with legislative proposals tocounter the program, including withholding some grant funds. "No one cares about stopping crime more than we do because we livein these neighborhoods," New York City Assemblyman Karim Camara, aDemocrat, said in a news conference on the grounds of the Capitol."I'm raising two kids. You think I like hearing gunshots when mykids are sleeping in the other room? But you are not stopping thegunshots. You are not getting the guns off the street." An analysis of department statistics by the New York CivilLiberties Union found police stopped 685,724 people last year, 87percent of whom were black or Latino. About half had been frisked.Police have largely targeted black and Latino youths and men. Blackand Latino men ages 14 to 24 make up about 5 percent of the city'spopulation but accounted for 42 percent of the stops last year,according to the New York Civil Liberties Union's analysis. Ninetypercent of the young black and Latino men were innocent. Last month, a federal judge granted class status to a lawsuit filedby people who have been stopped. They are alleging thestop-and-frisk policy amounts to racial profiling and isunconstitutional. In granting the class-action status, U.S.District Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that there was "overwhelmingevidence" that the practice has led to thousands of illegal stops. The department and Mayor Michael Bloomberg defend thestop-and-frisk program as a way to fight crime and say that it hashelped bring about record drops in crime. But critics say theprogram has produced few weapons or arrests and many of thosearrested are picked up on unrelated charges or for resisting arrestbecause they have questioned the stop. The New York Police Department also has been under fire for spyingon Muslims students, businesses and mosques to collect intelligenceon Muslims, an issue members of the delegation said they raised atthe meeting. "If you look at the numbers, no matter how you slice stop, questionand frisk, it is a racist and prejudicial policy that violatescivil rights and civil liberties," said New York City CouncilmanJumaane Williams, who said he co-chairs the City Council's gunviolence. Beyond that, the program is a failure in stemming gun violence. Thepolice found one gun for every 3,000 people stopped, he said. "Mayor Bloomberg sometimes steps out of New York City and goesnational," Williams said. "When it comes to guns nationally he doessome very good things. On a local level, we want people to know, heis backwards on this procedure and this policy ... and it'sdangerous for people to look at what is happening in New York Cityand try to emulate that.". We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Herbal Slimming Pills Manufacturer , China Natural Slimming Pills for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Natural Slimming Pills.
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