New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday opponents of stop-and-frisk police policies have it all wrong – it’s really whites, not minorities, who are more frequently held for questioning.
He made the statements on his weekly radio address, during discussion of the city’s controversial rule that lets law enforcement use judgment to decide if someone is committing, or about to commit, a felony and to subsequently question them. Opponents say the law is akin to sanctioned racial profiling and has led to discrimination on the part of police toward minorities.
But Mr. Bloomberg scoffed and said that’s just not true, The New York Post reported.
“I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little,” he said, on the radio address. “It’s exactly the reverse of what they say. I don’t know where they went to school but they certainly didn’t take a math course. Or a logic course.”
Just Thursday, the City Council voted to appoint an outside watchdog group to make sure the police don’t commit racial profiling – and to ease the process by which those with discrimination complaints can file suits against the city. Mr. Bloomberg, along with the police union, blasted the City Council’s vote, and the mayor has vowed to veto the measure.
He also said on Friday’s radio show that most “serious crimes” in the city were committed by male minorities, between the ages of 15 and 25, the Post reported.
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• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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