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In an act of desperation, the city of New York has used the media to launch a "despicable" attack on the federal judge presiding over a landmark stop-and-frisk trial, attorneys for the plaintiffs say.

Early Wednesday morning, the New York Daily News published a story describing an internal report compiled by Mayor Michael Bloomberg's staff that purports to show that judge Shira Scheindlin is "biased against law enforcement."

By lunchtime, the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents the plaintiffs, had fired off a response, calling the report an "inappropriate stunt."

Following court yesterday afternoon, Darius Charney, one of CCR's lead attorneys on the case, said the allegations achieved a level of absurdity he has never encountered before.

"I've heard some ridiculous, outrageous accusations thrown out by the city over the years," Charney said. "But this is the most ridiculous one I've ever heard, and I actually find it despicable."

The report's emergence coincides with the final week of testimony in the trial. From 2004 to 2012 the department reported 4.4 million stops; nearly nine out of 10 the subjects, the vast majority of whom were black or Latino, were released without an arrest or summons. Plaintiffs in the case say the stops have amounted to widespread constitutional rights violations, including unlawful search and seizure and racial profiling.

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C.S. Muncy

At this point, it goes without saying the controversy that is stop and frisk will be a staple of the 2013 mayoral race.

Floyd v. New York - a case that seeks to upend the controversial practice - is heating up, as the NYPD seeks to justify its usage through intimidating tutorial videos. The Community Safety Act, which would implement serious transparency measures on the boys in blue, is currently making its way through City Council, with each major figure in New York City politics taking a stand on it. And, of course, we learned last week that stop and frisk numbers are actually dropping as we move closer to the ballots.

The momentum is evident here but, for voters, their options are limited. As of now, Comptroller John C. Liu is the only candidate that has called for the complete repeal of stop and frisk across the five boroughs. Christine Quinn and Bill de Blasio has called for its reform, holding themselves back from full elimination of a policy that has racked up 5 million tallies since its inauguration.

So, when it pertains to stop and frisk, what better time for civil rights groups to call on the youth vote to get things done?

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Though considering that Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu had very similar positions, it wasn't a particularly contentious discussion.

When moderator Juan Manuel Benitez of NY1 asked the Democratic hopefuls how they differed in their stance on stop and frisk--of which both are highly critical--Liu made one point very clear. "At least we're here!" he said, after stressing the need to get rid of stop-and-frisk altogether.

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C.S. Muncy

It's already been quite a strange year for stop-and-frisk.

In the first days of 2013, the NYPD's Clean Halls program, which allowed officers to search anyone suspicious in tenanted buildings, was ruled unconstitutional in a Manhattan court. Then, a few weeks later, court proceedings began for Floyd v. New York, a case that seeks to end the practice altogether. And we learned how to stop and frisk on our own (if we ever wanted to do that).

While legal threats and criticisms on the practice culminate, a statistic came out yesterday that adds yet another peculiar layer to the agency's most notorious controversy. Between January 1 and March 31, an estimated 99,788 stop-and-frisks were conducted. (The NYPD has conducted 5 million stop-and-frisks so far.) Compared to this time last year, it is a 51 percent decrease--the first few months of 2012 saw 203,500 stops.

The number marks a strange pattern for the practice: As acrimony toward stop-and-frisk continue to boil, the actual use of the program is declining at a rapid pace.

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On Sunday afternoon, seven mayoral hopefuls gathered for a forum co-hosted by the Arab American Association of New York (AAANY) and the Islamic Center at New York University. Community organizers hailed it as an historic moment. Nearly three weeks after the Boston bombings--and in the heat of the debate on civil liberties that ensued--moderator Errol Louis posed the question to the candidates: By a show of hands, which of you think the current NYPD surveillance program is unconstitutional?

John C. Liu and Reverend Erick Salgado, both Democrats, raised their palms in front of a room of roughly 400 members of the Muslim, South Asian, and Arab American communities. "How could you think it's okay to surveil or spy on someone just because they're Muslim?" Liu asked.

"It is counterproductive to alienate communities, because if you do that, it means a less-safe city," Salgado added.

Not every mayoral candidate was present--many, Louis pointed out, turned down the invitation. Noticeably absent were Republican candidates, with the near-exception of Adolfo Carrión, a former Democrat turned Independent hoping to run on the GOP ticket.

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"Illegal weapons are flooding our city's streets," the eerie voice says amongst pictures of AK-47s. "Out of state gun hoarders have made it all too easy to acquire an illegal gun if the price is right. It is our job as professional police officers to legally detect and remove guns by arresting the offenders. This important task ensures the public's safety."

So begins the video presented to a Manhattan court this week by NYPD attorneys. The footage was used as a defense in Floyd v. City of New York, the case that seeks to upend stop and frisk as an unconstitutional and biased infringement on civilian rights. It's shown to officers in training and basically runs as a 'How To' for the controversial procedure.

And, boy, does it make you uncomfortable.

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Atiq Zabinski with OccupyTVNY

Councilman Charles Barron with Carol Gray, mother of slain teenager.

The mother of a Brooklyn teen gunned down by two Brooklyn police officers stepped out of a meeting with the district attorney Thursday to deliver harsh words for a department she believes is deeply racist.

Read more: Everybody Wants a Piece of Kimani Gray

Carol Gray, the mother of Kimani Gray, a 16 year-old of Guyanese and Jamaican descent who was shot to death by police in East Flatbush last month, argued the NYPD's treatment of communities of color is radically different than its practices in predominantly white neighborhoods.

"The community we come from, is like, these police officers, they're white supremacists," Gray told reporters outside district attorney Charles Hynes' Brooklyn office. "They have no value for black childrens' life. They don't know how they get along. They don't know how they get education. They don't know nothing about them."

Gray said young people in her community are never addressed "like a real civilian" with "'Hello, how you doing?' or 'Can I speak to you for a minute?'"

"No," she said. "It's never that."

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It's been a rough couple of weeks for the head of the Boys in Blue.

The NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy finds itself in a serious constitutional dilemma in a downtown court, bringing light to the shadowy legacy of the practice. The Community Safety Act, which would establish an inspector general for the force, has come under fire from the city's greatest political players after receiving an endorsement from Christine Quinn. And even the fact that the agency needs an inspector general says enough about Ray Kelly and his department right now.

Well, in response to all of this, Kelly sat down with the Wall Street Journal to give his take on--everything. A few snippets from this thing need to be brought to everyone's attention.

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We're almost close to labeling 'NYPD actions' as the hot button issue for this mayoral race.

Two weeks ago, the Voice reported that the NYPD had committed its 5 millionth stop-and-frisk. Then, a few days later, hearings began downtown on Floyd v. New York, which challenges the practice all together (follow fellow Voice scribe Graham Rayman's coverage here).

And, for the sake of political timeliness, a bill titled the Community Safety Act is making its way through the City Council. This bundle of legislation includes a part that would staff the NYPD with an Inspector General for oversight, given the recent flare of scandal for the boys in blue. Essentially, it would create cops for the cops.

The bill recently picked up support from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. But Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg are not at all down with such a measure, arguing that it will stall normal procedures by adding another layer of bureaucracy. As a result, the act has already been labeled "controversial," laying the path to a showdown that will involve all of those running for the coveted throne in City Hall.

Let the mayoral candidates sign off themselves.

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C.S. Muncy

This isn't exactly an anniversary worth celebrating.

Yesterday, if the rates went as usual, the Boys in Blue have conducted their five millionth (yes, you read that correctly) stop-and-frisk. This performance can be traced by juxtaposing the activity in the first year of the Bloomberg administration with the more present day: in 2002, 97,296 stops were conducted; in 2012, our designated "Year of Stop & Frisk," the City's denizens were subject to 533,042.

This 5 million point further confirms another point we've made time and time again: if you stop-and-frisk everyone, then, yes, the crime rate will go down.

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