Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that New York City Law Enforcement officers deliver racially biased treatment in their controversial “Stop and Frisk” proceedings. Are their other encounters with civilians marked by similar racial biases?. In 2013, the police stopped New Yorkers 191,558 times. 169,252 were totally innocent (88 percent), 104,958 were black (56 percent), 55,191 were Latino (29 percent), 20,877 were white (11 percent). There are many reported cases of racial profiling in New York. NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio and Police Commissioner William Bratton dispute this, though the facts have a strong counter argument which shows racial profiling is an on going problem among law enforcement and the citizens of New York City.

The well known Barneys New York faced a few incidents that occurred early last year, which had most New Yorkers accusing Law Enforcement of racial profiling. Reports from the retailer reviewed two incidents involving A young African American woman Kayla Phillips, who was stopped after making a purchase of an expensive pocket book with her income taxes, and Trayon Christian, who was detained for questioning after a purchasing an expensive belt. Both shoppers stated Barney’s employees and the New York City Police Officers targeted them because of their race.

Rob Brown of HBO Tv series “The Treme” filed a class action Lawsuit. He stated that he was racially profiled while purchasing a gift for his mother at a Macy’s Department store in New York City. He purchased a watch and used his personal credit card. After making the purchase, He was accused of using a forged credit card. The actor then was detained and questioned for hours by New York City Police Officers. The actor then went on national TV stating that he felt profiled due to his race. He claimed to feel as if he wouldn’t have been treated the same way if he was a Caucasian male. New York City Correction Captain Rod Marcel said “to be placed in predetermined category based on someone's ethnicity, that is what it means to be racially profiled. Many people misinterpret proper policing for racially biased treatment, or racism. Just because the accused suspect happens to be of a minority does not mean Law enforcement targets them. I am certain instances of racial profiling has occurred but, it doesn't mean NYC Law enforcement racially profiles every civilian, or suspect they encounter ”.

Police Commissioner William Bratton in an article disputes all racially biased accusations ; “We will not break the law to enforce the law” he said. Readers may interpret this to mean law enforcement will not racially profile anyone in order to solve a crime, “using racial profile, to prevent a suspected crime, is much different than being racist, many people fail to take that into consideration” said Howard law school graduate Bianca manns. There is a fine line between racial profiling, and being racist many NYC residences accuse law enforcement of both, but still argue as to whether it is justified to maintain safety.

Michael Sidlowski a Detective at the Kings County District Attorney's Office said , “Many officers are trained to enforce the law and protect the citizens of their jurisdiction. Unfortunately, suspects for committed crimes fit stereotyped profiles. Hispanics are stereotyped as thieves, the same way Muslims are terrorist, we are all stereotyped in one way or another. But it is based on the individual officer of the law whether or not to act upon these stereotypes”.

NYC ISchool senior and 17 year NYC resident Zakari Hilare said “I remember one day I was running late and I approached the turnstile swiped my Metro card and ran down the platform stairs to catch the train sweating. I witnessed a Caucasian male a few steps ahead of me jump the turnstile and run down the platform stairs ahead of me. I proceeded to get on the train as New York City Police officer stopped me and asked me to show ID and my school issued Metrocard. I stepped back and complied with the officer’s instructions, meanwhile the caucasian man was able to jump on the train and avoid paying the fare. I ended up missing my train. I believe the Officer only stopped me because I was a young African American male. I was profiled for doing the right thing while looking wrong as a man who was doing the wrong thing looked right”.

New York city has a compliant board that serves as a non-Bias group of people who were hired to take complaints about Law enforcement, and trained process the information through investigation and give a recommendation of corrective procedure to resolve issues of abuse from law enforcement. This complaint board came into full effect eventually leading to Commissioner William Bratton announcing that there was a new policy at large. This new policy includes the terms “introduce yourself”, “be courtesy”, and “be professional”. Many believe this was set in place to avoid complaints of racial profiling, but few believe it will actually make a change to the controversial problem which law enforcement faces with civilians. The biased from law enforcement many minorities claim to face in the state of New York.