Thursday, April 30th 2009, 1:57 PM
Zalcman for News
The informational card being handed out by the NYPD to pedestrians whom cops stop and frisk explains why people are singled out.
At least now you know why they stopped and frisked you.
The NYPD has begun handing out informational cards to pedestrians they stop, question and frisk, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday.
Cops in sections of Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx have given those people 4 X 2 1/2-inch white cards that explain a so-called stop, question and frisk encounter.
"We know that the whole stopping and question procedure is a difficult one for us," Kelly told reporters at Police Headquarters.
"People are, at the very least, losing time, and we're taking time away from them. We're hoping to...give people a little more information about what the procedure is and why it's being done."
The pilot program is being tested for up to a year in the 32nd Precinct in Harlem, the 75th Precinct in East New York and the 44th Precinct in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx.
Those precincts were selected because of "volume," Kelly said.
The non-profit RAND Corporation recommended the card distribution in 2007. It noted that in 90% of stops, individuals are neither arrested nor issued summonses.
"To mitigate the discomfort of such interactions and to bolster community trust, officers should explain the reason for the stop, [and] discuss specifically the suspect's manner that generated the suspicion," it recommended.
RAND also suggested that officers give individuals who are stopped contact information.
The two-sided card cites common reasons for stops, such as carrying what appears to be a weapon, sights or sounds that suggest criminal activities, or reports of suspicious behavior.
The card, in seven languages, encourages people to call 311 or visit the NYPD's Web site at www.nyc.gov/nypd.
Read more: "NYPD hands out informational cards to pedestrians who are stopped and frisked" - http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/04/30/2009-04-30_nypd_.html#ixzz0EC0s5iIg&A
