ACLU: Chicago police had higher stop-and-frisk rate than NYC

[Stellar]

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago police officers initiated stop, question and frisk encounters at a much higher rate last summer than their New York City counterparts ever did, and just like with New York's heavily criticized program, Chicago blacks and other racial minorities were disproportionately targeted, according to a civil liberties group.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois released a report Monday saying it identified more than 250,000 Chicago stop-and-frisk encounters in which there were no arrests from May through August 2014. African-Americans accounted for nearly three-quarters of those stopped, even though they make up about a third of the city's population. On a per capita basis, Chicago police stopped 93.6 people per 1,000 residents, or more than four times New York's peak rate of 22.9 stops per 1,000 residents, which happened during the same four-month period of 2011.

"The Chicago Police Department stops a shocking number of innocent people," said Harvey Grossman, the ACLU's legal director. "And just like New York, we see that African Americans are singled out for these searches."

People were far more likely to be stopped in predominantly black communities and blacks were more likely to be the target of stops in predominantly white neighborhoods, the study found. For example, African-Americans accounted for 15 percent of the stops in the Jefferson Park area, even though they made up just one percent of its population.

The ACLU said it also found that police gave no "legally sufficient reason" for initiating many of the stops. It said it examined a random sampling of "contact cards," which officers are required to fill out whenever they make such a stop. On half the cards, the officers didn't state a reason for the stop, and in some cases, they stated that they stopped someone for a reason that wasn't related to suspected criminal activity.

More info at the link...
http://news.yahoo.com/aclu-chicago-police-had-higher-stop-frisk-rate-185824002.html

(Police suggested that the ACLU should have talked to them first instead of going to the media and relying on their lying eyes)

[marym625]

1. This is not surprising

I hope that FINALLY something might change how the Chicago police act