It’s okay to stop and frisk.
So says a NYPD memo that police sources said was issued to clarify what cops can and can’t do and to correct the misinformation that has become part of the dialogue concerning the controversial tactic.
The four-page internal document, known as a “Finest Message,” was issued by Chief of Department Philip Banks on Friday and is being read to cops around the city at 10 consecutive roll calls.
A federal appeals panel the same day denied city lawyers’ request to overturn Judge Shira Scheindlin’s ruling that the NYPD had violated the U.S. Constitution in the way it stops, questions and often frisks people.
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has said he would drop the appeal when he takes office.
New legislation, meanwhile, makes it easier to sue the NYPD.
Banks played down the significance of the message, saying they are issued “all the time.”
But Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the message was issued “in an attempt to explain the law and what the law says in essence.”
Kelly said that while he believes “police officers will always do their jobs and will respond to situations” the controversy may have affected the mindset of some officers.
“I think there may be some reluctance on the part of police officers to engage in [stop and frisk],” he said.
The New York Civil Liberties Union, perhaps the NYPD’s sharpest critic, said the message “acknowledges that the fear campaign used by police unions and others was not based on the facts.”
Unions in recent months often failed to mention that those who sue can’t receive monetary damages — and that the city almost without exception will indemnify officers.
” We’re trying to get that information out so there’s more sunshine on the process,” Kelly said.
Banks in the message notes that the department already had a policy against racial profiling.
He said factors such as race, sexual orientation and housing status can be considered when stopping a suspect as long as they are not the “deciding factor.”
He also said officers must articulate a reasonable suspicion before stopping and questioning someone and probable cause before making an arrest.
“Doing so will help to avoid or defeat claims that enforcement action has been take on the basis of a prohibited demographic characteristic,” he said.
The number of stops in the third quarter of this year dropped 80% compared to the same time last year
Only 21,187 people were stopped from July through September, compared to 105,998 last year.
Police have said there is no correct number of stops and that they are based on what cops witness.
Kelly also has attributed the stops decrease, which began last year, to better training.
But critics said the decline was prodded by the controversy surrounding the practice.
rparascandola@nydailynews.com
