Updated 06/01/2012 07:42 PM
City, State and Federal Lawmakers Team Up To Warn Congress About Stop And Frisk
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A group of New York lawmakers are calling on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the possible abuse of the stop and frisk practice by the New York City Police Department.
More than two dozen black, Latino and Asian city and state lawmakers sent the letter in anticipation of a plan to travel to the nation's capital next week.
In an exclusive interview, Brooklyn State Assemblyman Karim Camara, Brooklyn City Councilman Jumaane Williams and Brooklyn Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (joining us from Washington) told Inside City Hall’s Errol Louis about their efforts to convince the Justice Department to investigate the NYPD's stop and frisk policy. See the interview here.
They'll meet with their federal counterparts in the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. They also plan to visit the Justice Department to air their grievances with the tactics.
Three members of the group, who are longtime opponents of the policy, gave “Inside City Hall” an exclusive preview of their plans.
"We have to get across the message to people who believe they are safer because of this," said City Councilman Jumaane Williams of Brooklyn. "Not only is it racist, prejudice and violating civil rights and liberties, it’s also ineffective in doing the very thing it’s supposed to be doing.
"We cannot pretend that these current strategies are effective, that they are protecting our communities," said Assemblyman Karim Carmara of Brooklyn. "The shootings continue, the guns are still on the street."
NY1 has reached out to the NYPD for comment and is awaiting a response.