The New Stop And Frisk? Chicago Police Make Millions Of Traffic Stops While Searching For Guns – Block Club Chicago

In 2021, the year Chicago police were most successful at finding weapons in cars, officers made 156 traffic stops for every gun arrest. Critics say the strategy relies on stops unrelated to road safety, leads to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary police interactions that alienate Black and Latino communities, and ensnares legal gun owners in the criminal justice system for what often amounts to technicalities. They also maintain that the approach fails to reduce violent crime.
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Paul Boomer
3 years ago

Public outcry “Too much crime the cops have to do something”. Police try to do something the public outcry “Cops are harassing minorities this has to stop”. Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. My personal view and advice is for the cops to do nothing other than answer calls and take reports. (Poor Taxpayer already says that’s happening). Why should the cops just stop? Because of the first statement, be proactive and be cursed at, do nothing and be cursed at. Do nothing and you can’t get in trouble, no lawsuits, no complaints against you, no court, no… Read more »

debtsor
3 years ago
Reply to  Paul Boomer

This article is kind of misleading. Although only .6% of stops find guns, they’re finding a lot of other stuff, like drugs, suspended licenses, no insurance, people with warrants, etc. Most of the time, like the article says, they’re just writing warning tickets. I’ve heard that anecdotally, if the driver gives the cops a hard time, that’s the only reason the cop will issue a ticket or arrest the driver. But they know when they go to court, the tickets will all be dropped on the first court date. It’s like Sisyphus pushing the boulder to the top of the… Read more »

Fullbladder
3 years ago

Guess which group invented the drive-by-shooting…that kill thousands of innocent people every year.

Poor Taxpayer
3 years ago

DWB is a dangerous thing to do.

second amendment
3 years ago
Reply to  Poor Taxpayer

I am always surprised at proponents of gun control. They don’t seem to realize the consequences of enforcing the gun laws. And to enforce them, there needs to be teeth in enforcement and a strong bite. Proponents don’t seem to understand just what populations are going to be arrested and charged. I recall several years back when Plaxico Burress, the Giants wide receiver (and a good one at that) accidentally shot himself in the leg foolishly in New York City. Of course, the first concern was that he was going to recover. But then it dawned on him and everyone… Read more »

Fullbladder
3 years ago

The Liberal brain doesn’t work right.

debtsor
3 years ago

Gun control proponents know there consequences to enforcing gun laws against minorities. However, they believe that enforcing gun laws against minorities is harmful. They argue that saddling young black men with life-long felony gun arrests outweighs the benefits of enforcing felonies against ‘non-violent’ gun offenders. The reality is that young black men in urban areas carry guns as naturally as women leave their home with purses. It’s just part of their culture, and who is to judge? So that’s why black people don’t get charged with gun crimes while white people get the book thrown at them. That’s why they… Read more »

debtsor
3 years ago
Reply to  debtsor

I know this conflicts with the Block Club article saying that guns are found only in 1 out of 156 cases. But all that means is that they aren’t bringing guns with them in their cars! How else can you explain blacks in some neighborhoods experiencing a murder rate 10x or higher than the national rate, with a gun shooting rate up to 20x higher than the national rate. it’s not the KKK shooting and the guns aren’t shooting themselves!

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