Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter cruised into political office championing a policy that is unconstitutional (violation of 4th Amendment) and dangerous. "Stop and Frisk" has been used as a tool of racial profiling and police repression on Philadelphia's Black and Latino residents. In 2009, 253,000 Philadelphians were stopped and frisked; and 72% of those stopped were African American. Only 8% of the stops in 2009 led to arrests; most of which were for matters unrelated to the original reason given for the stop. The "hit rate,” referring to the number of illegal guns and drugs obtained by those stopped and frisked, the real indicator of the effectiveness of the stop and frisk, has to be scrutinized. If Philadelphia police officers are not making lawful arrests and/or uncovering illegal items, what are they doing when they stop people?

Currently there are lawsuits in Philadelphia and New York against the Stop and Frisk policy; residents of Los Angeles and Arizona’s Mexican community are also actively fighting against the policy. By signing this petition, you can help bring an end to Stop and Frisk in Philadelphia and support the national campaign.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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