With respect to the front page story in your March 8 – 21 issue regarding “stop and frisk,” it seems that for a police officer to use his authority to stop and search anyone at random and without cause is truly reprehensible. No one should be subjected to random frisking at the whim of a policeman merely because he can. Ditto for detaining anyone for questioning without any good cause.

There have already been numerous stories in the dailies about police overstepping their authority and this issue is no different.

There are those who may call this racial profiling, but what will this be called if white individuals are stopped, even if their numbers may be fewer than minorities? And heaven forbid if anyone should try to resist, since by doing so they might risk outright arrest. The officers involved should be out looking for an actual crime in progress instead.

Should the public now fear being out and about since anyone can be stopped at any time without warning?

This amounts to public humiliation, and even if an innocent victim subsequently complains to the Civilian Complaint Review Board and receives an apology, the victim is still left with the memory of a traumatic experience which cannot be undone.

It’s bad enough that some airline passengers at an airport may be required to undergo a body search in the name of public safety, but on a public street? That’s a bit much.

While there are the few who may actually be caught with something illegal during this procedure, it doesn’t warrant pursuing the stop and frisk at random. Those who would carry a gun or who have planned to commit a crime will probably not be deterred.

The time of police could be better spent elsewhere.

Judy Noy
Norwood resident

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