To Lower Murder Rate, NYPD Will Just Stop-and-Frisk Everyone

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Not sure how the NYPD connected these two.

Yesterday, a spokesperson for the boys of blue heralded the city's low murder rate - a number that has dipped 21 percent in recent months - as a sign of victory for their controversial stop-and-frisk policy.The procedure, attacked by City Council and the New York Civil Liberties Union alike for racial profiling, has reached an alarming rate of use: in the first three months of this year, 200,000 New Yorkers were touched up and down by the NYPD; a 10 percent increase from the same time last year.

Although the low murder rate is something to praise, we here at Runnin' Scared are curious to how much stop-and-frisk actually contributed to those numbers. Regardless, it's evident in the NYPD statement that the authorities have a different mentality: to protect and frisk... everyone.
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Bronx Advocates Call for Alternatives to Arrests of Students Inside Public Schools (UPDATED)

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From New Settlement Parent Action Committee flier.
This afternoon, parent advocates in the Bronx are organizing a march that will start at a transportation hub in the borough, move to a suspensions hearing center onward to an early care education site, and then to an elementary school and a middle school. The final destination of the rally is a juvenile justice center.

This, they say, is a reflection of the path that all too many Bronx youth take today -- from school to prison.

A South Bronx group called the New Settlement Apartments Parent Action Committee is holding a rally today to shed light on some alarming statistics around the arrests that take place inside schools and to push the Dept. of Education to make policy changes that they say would better address behavioral problems and curb the rates of youth incarceration.

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In Stop-and-Frisk Debate, Mayor Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio Bad-Mouth Each Other

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Sam Levin
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio at an immigration event earlier this year.
The debate over the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk policy is in full swing this week with a proposal from the public advocate prompting a badmouthing match between the mayor and the elected official who hopes to replace him in 2013.

Yesterday, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, an expected mayoral candidate, launched a campaign to reform stop-and-frisk, urging Mayor Bloomberg to dramatically reduce the number of unwarranted stops. That led Bloomberg, via a statement from his deputy mayor, to criticize de Blasio and dismiss his ideas as out of touch with the realities of crime in the city. De Blasio kept the momentum going this morning with a conference call with reporters to, well, respond to the mayor's response to him.

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Pressed on 9-1-1 Report, Mayor Bloomberg Says 'I Didn't Even Bother To Read It'

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Sam Levin
Mayor Bloomberg takes questions at 30 Rockefeller yesterday.
After mounting pressure, the mayor's office last week released a 133-page report on the city's emergency response protocols, which says that the 9-1-1 system struggles with inefficiencies, errors, and delays.

Questioned about the findings and recommendations of the consultant's report yesterday afternoon, Mayor Bloomberg said that the city's record of responding to emergencies is better than ever and that his administration takes the report seriously.

That doesn't, however, mean he actually read it.

Pushed on some of the specifics of the 9-1-1 report at a press conference on the set of Saturday Night Live, Bloomberg ultimately blurted out, "I didn't even bother to read it!" as his press secretary tried to move along the news conference to a different question.

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A Fatal Car Crash, NYPD Cop DWI In Brooklyn Last Night; Nassau Cops Get a DWI Grant

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It was an eventful but tragic evening in the outer borough of Kings County.

Late last night, on the Ocean Parkway in Sheepshead Bay, two cars met in a head-on collision after the driver of a BMW lost control and swerved into oncoming traffic, hitting a minivan. 

The man behind the wheel, Jamal Iqual, was pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital soon after the crash. The police have made no arrests yet as the BMW passengers are both listed as in 'stable condition' after experiencing serious body trauma.

Meanwhile, around midnight near Brooklyn Heights, NYPD officer Ronald Gonzalez, 41, was taken into custody after reportedly failing a DWI test and a refusal to use a breathalyzer. The details of the arrest and subsequent investigation are minimal but are sure to come.

But, thankfully, on Long Island, police officers in Nassau County are getting a little more cash flow to protect the streets from the intoxicated.

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After Mounting Pressure, Mayor's Office Gives Out Hard Copies of 'Final' 9-1-1 Report

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Sam Levin
Snapshot of the cover of the 133-page 9-1-1 Report, which was given out today only in hard copy form.
Today, the mayor's office gave out hard copies of the city's controversial 9-1-1 report to reporters that asked for it.

The Voice stopped by City Hall late this afternoon to grab a copy of the 133-page consultant's report that examined the city's emergency response system. It has been a topic of much debate recently, with elected officials increasingly pressuring the mayor to release the report (which the city commissioned). Bloomberg has repeatedly refused, saying he would only release it when there was a final version.

The story first blew up when the New York Post reported in the beginning of April that the mayor was apparently waging an "all-out battle" to suppress the allegedly scathing report that said the city's emergency-dispatch system has deep flaws. Since then, a Manhattan Supreme Court Justice has ordered Bloomberg to hand over the report, arguing that City Hall can't keep it from taxpayers who paid for it.

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Can Protesting Stop-and-Frisk Get You Convicted of Disorderly Conduct?

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Can you get jailed for protesting a polemic cop policy in front of a police precinct?

A Manhattan judge delivered a guilty disorderly conduct verdict this afternoon to a group of 20 political protesters, including Princeton Prof Cornel West, the Associated Press reports. The charge is considered a violation, not a crime, and can result in up to 15 days behind bars.

The conviction comes from an Oct. 21 demonstration against stop and frisk.

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May Day! The Voice Staff's Live Coverage of Occupy Wall Street's M1NYC

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Hello and welcome to the afternoon shift of the Village Voice's liveblog of May Day 2012, as the Occupy Wall Street movement calls for a "General Strike" and a day of protests around the city. Our reporters and photographers remain fanned out across the boroughs. We'll continue liveblogging their dispatches right here and bringing you the latest news as it happens. We also invite you follow us on Twitter (@VillageVoice) and you can also follow our correspondents from the scene: Nick Pinto, C.S. Muncy, Victoria Bekiempis, James King, Ben Sin, Sam Levin, John Surico, Robert Sietsema, Tejal Rao, yours truly, and, covering the OWS music events for our sister blog Sound of the City, Maura Johnston.

Stay tuned!

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On the Eve of May Day, a Raft of Suits Against the NYPD Over Treatment of Protesters

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Journalists, protesters, and their lawyers announcing a federal suit against the NYPD this morning.
There are fewer than 24 hours to go before Occupy Wall Street activists, unions, and immigrant groups launch a day-long series of protests that may well constitute some of the largest demonstrations in the city's recent history.

All indications are that the police are getting ready too: large groups of officers were seen drilling in riot gear on Randall's Island on Thursday, and sources have told the Voice's Graham Rayman that officers assigned to police the May Day protests have been ordered to bring "hats and bats."

Mayor Bloomberg had little to say when the Voice asked him about police tactics yesterday, but a swarm of new lawsuits is explicitly challenging the way the NYPD handles protesters.

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Mayor Bloomberg Doesn't Have Much to Say on OWS Police Tactics, But Still Criticizes Protests

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C.S. Muncy
Occupy Wall Street in March, when more than 70 occupiers were arrested.
Mike Bloomberg doesn't have much to say about what he and the New York Police Department are doing to prepare for Occupy Wall Street's big day of action on Tuesday, but he didn't miss a chance this morning to criticize the protests.

At a press conference outside City Hall today, the Voice asked the mayor what the city and the NYPD is doing in advance of May Day -- a full day of protests and demonstrations that is aimed at breathing new life into the movement that began last fall.

In our question, we also asked him about rumors that several hundred NYPD officers were training on Randall's Island with riot gear and mock protesters.

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