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13 August 2012
(San Francisco, CA) – The NAACP reacted to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee’s decision to drop plans for a policing program that resembles New York City’s invasive stop-and-frisk policing program: “We are pleased Mayor Lee has backed away from this dubious stop-and-frisk policy,” stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous.
“This move is a victory for everyone who supports a criminal justice system that does not deem people suspicious based on the color of their skin. Stop-and-frisk policing, as practiced in New York City and as envisioned in San Francisco, is nothing but an officially sanctioned form of racial profiling. Stop-and-frisk has no place in San Francisco or any city that respects its citizens.”“We are vehemently and adamantly opposed to any practice of “stop and frisk” in San Francisco and nationwide,” stated San Francisco NAACP President Rev. Amos. Brown. “It is our unwavering position that “stop and frisk” is a violation of civil rights and creates the atmosphere for mistrust and suspicion of law enforcement officers and is the breeding ground for police misconduct, racial profiling and divisiveness to an already challenged and marginalize communities.”
Rev. Brown also called for a holistic and cooperative approach to violence prevention in San Francisco. “It is time that community stakeholders build on their strengths, coalesce, recognize that the problem and cycle of senseless pandemic violence is happening primarily in the African American community,” said Brown. “This must be reversed, resolved and remedied through holistic comprehensive policy and programming, evidence-based community policing strategies, and the provision of adequate resources, execution, implementation and oversight led by culturally competent and sensitive leadership.”Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.
