Stop and Frisk: New York City Leads the World

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Putting Pressure on the NYPD

New York City police detained and patted down people on the street 685,724 times in 2011 without and warrant or evidence of a crime being committed, and 88 percent of those stopped were not ticketed or arrested.

Of the 685,724 people arbitrarily stopped by New York’s finest in 2011, 87 percent were black or Latino.

Opponents and supporters of the city’s stop-and-frisk policy have faced off on the streets and in the courts.

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New York, however, is not the only place where stop and frisk tactics are used. In the war zones of the Middle East and South America, civilians are subjected to very similar practices.

Click through the gallery to see photos of protests calling for an end to the New York policy—and shots that put the NYPD’s heavy hands in context with stop and frisk situations around the world.

Photo: Eric Thayer/Reuters

Silent March

Thousands of New Yorkers marched in silence down Fifth Avenue on June 17, 2012, to demand an end to the New York Police Department’s “stop-and-frisk” program, which the protesters say disproportionately targets black and Latino males.

Photo: Eric Thayer/Reuters

The Reverend Protests

Protesters, including civil rights activist, Reverend Al Sharpton, march the streets of New York in order to show their opposition to the stop and frisk program.

Photo: Eric Thayer/Reuters

New York Cops to an Issue

The New York stop and frisk policy is not only being challenged by civilian protesters, but judges and politicians as well.

Photo: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

Colombia Crash Course

A Colombian soldier frisks a passenger after stopping a bus at a roadblock on the outskirts of Bogota. Security across Colombia was stepped up ahead of presidential elections in May 2006.

Photo: Daniel Munoz/Reuters

Baghdad Pocket Pat

U.S. soldiers of the 3rd Platoon Alpha company 2nd Battalion 12th Cavalry Regiment frisk two men after stopping their car during a patrol in Baghdad’s northwest Jawadeen neighborhood, March 22, 2007.

Photo: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

San Salvador Stop and Seize

Members of the National Civil Police detain a street vendor during a protest in San Salvador, June 17, 2010. Around 200 street vendors took to the streets to protest against a plan by San Salvador’s Mayor Norman Quijano to stop the vendors from working on the streets.

Photo: Luis Galdamez/Reuters

London Before the Burning

Police officers stop and search two men on a back street in the Brixton neighborhood of London, August 14, 2008.

Photo: Andrew Winning/Reuters

Rousted in Iraq

Iraqi men are frisked by a member of Britain’s 1st Battalion the Parachute Regiment carrying out vehicle searches for weapons in southern Iraq, March 30, 2003. Paratroopers patrolled the skies by helicopter and were able to drop a platoon of men onto the road or desert track ahead of a vehicle to facilitate the random stops.

Photo: Stringer/Reuters

Feeling Frisky in Afghanistan

An Afghan policeman checks a man on a bicycle for weapons in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, January 18, 2002. Afghan police fanned out across Kandahar, setting up checkpoints, searching cars, frisking their occupants and firing on those who would not stop in the city’s first big crackdown on illegal arms.