A feeling of serene comfort and safety is something that all citizens of the world should feel while walking around and commuting every day. One of the reasons we should be able to feel such a freedom is because of our great police force, whose completely “just” protocol should act as a catalyst for our current status quo. Stop-and-Frisk programs along major metropolises on the east coast were implemented so that police officers could stop and question hundreds of thousands of faceless citizens yearly for the betterment of their fellow man.
In reality, this practice has been rampant with racial profiling and corrupt dealings. The vast majority of citizens that are unrightfully detained are African-Americans and Hispanics of darker pigmentation. One unfortunate individual that has been harassed to the point of disfigurement is Darrin Manning. Manning was a normal 16-year-old boy with no criminal history, straight “A” grades, and he was a star basketball player at his school. The altercation between Manning and the police can be considered a sexual assault because reports are saying that the attack mutilated his testicles, saying they were “literally ruptured.” This innocent boy’s life was thrown off track, and all because of the racially motivated intentions of ignorant disciples of the law.
This is by no means the first sign of racism and abuse in the Stop-and-Frisk program. Earlier this year, two police officers mentioned during a conversation that they are told to target black males ages 14 to 21. Rightfully so, this caused an uproar that led to a class action lawsuit. Of the five million or so people who have been stopped, a good amount have been young minorities that, nine out of nineteen times, have walked away without any legal issues.
It is beyond me as to why people like Michael Bloomberg support such a failed venture like Stop-and-Frisk. There have been many protests and marches against the practice. To think that the only reason why Manning was harassed is because of how his scarf was blocking his face during the record low temperature in Philadelphia that day. That truly scares me. There should be no excuse for sexually abusing him. The Stop-and-Frisk program was implemented after Terry v. Ohio, a case which made way for an allowance of searches without a search warrant.
There is honestly overwhelming evidence against the existence of the policy. The proof is in the pudding, as the principal of Manning’s school gave the students scarfs so that they could stay warm on their commute. Police brutality in this manner will only breed more violence and brutality. Society will only be able to ignore the warning signs for so long.
As a young white male who has been in these areas countless times, I have never once been harassed and I hate to say it but it can be attributed to the color of my skin. A young boy like Manning may never be able to experience having children because of this kind of brutality.
There is not a quick solution to this problem. Likely, these practices will continue while stories like this sprout up from the woodwork every now and then. If nothing can or will be done to rectify this, then I believe that we should remember those affected. As hard as it may seem, we have to remember the atrocities that are committed day in and day out, because that is the only way to learn from the past. It is already too late for Darrin Manning and the millions of others that have been harassed, but by staying alert and documenting all of these occurrences, we can at least hope for progress.
