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New York Times photographer Robert Stolarik was allegedly beaten up and arrested by NYPD officers for taking pictures of an arrest Sunday night. While on an assignment in the Bronx, Stolarik took pictures of an NYPD officer arresting a 16-year-old girl

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If you’re concerned about possible racial profiling and police misconduct resulting from New York City’s controversial “stop-and-frisk” policy , there’s an app for that. In response to potential civil rights issues stemming from stop-and-frisk tactics — which are often criticized for disproportionately targeting young black men — the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) has created a smartphone app to help bystanders record police misconduct. Since the app’s release last week, more than 75,000 people have downloaded it. NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman explains that the app is necessary because, while New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has continued to defend the stop-and-frisk policy, city residents need to be empowered to make improvements in their own communities: LIEBERMAN: Stop and Frisk Watch is about empowering individuals and community groups to confront abusive, discriminatory policing. The NYPD’s own data shows that the overwhelming majority of people subjected to stop-and-frisk are black or Latino, and innocent of any wrongdoing. At a time when the Bloomberg administration vigorously defends the status quo, our app will allow people to go beyond the data to document how each unjustified stop further corrodes trust between communities and law enforcement. The Stop-and-Frisk Watch app allows bystanders to record video of police encounters and send those videos straight to the NYCLU’s servers. The app also shows users if there are other people using the app nearby, helping facilitate community groups working together to oppose police brutality, and contains a section called “Know Your Rights” that details the legal requirements for police confrontations. NYCLU is also working with other labor, civil rights, and community organizations to organize a silent march against New York’s stop-and-frisk policy to coincide with Father’s Day this weekend.

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This morning, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the city’s controversial “stop-and-frisk” policy, saying it helped “ take guns off the streets and save lives .” “Stop-and-frisk” is a policy strategy where officers stop and search “people they consider suspicious.” Bloomberg did, however, acknowledge some issues with the program, saying the practice needed to be “mended not ended.” Here are 10 important facts about the contentious program: 1. In 2011, NYC officers made 685,724 stops as part of the “stop-and-frisk” policy. Of that group, 605,328 people were determined not to have engaged in any unlawful behavior. [ NYCLU ] 2. Only 5.37% of all stops in a recent five-year period resulted in an arrest. In short, many people stopped did nothing wrong. [NYT, 5/17/12 ] 3. In 2009, 36% of the time officer failed to list an acceptable “suspected crime.” Reasonable suspicion of a crime is required to make a stop. [NYT, 5/17/12 ] 4. More than half of all stops last year were conducted “because the individual displayed ‘furtive movement’ — which is so vague as to be meaningless.” [NYT, 5/14/12 ] 5. Of those frisked in 2011, a weapon was found just 1.9% of the time. Frisks are supposed to be conducted “only when an officer reasonably suspects the person has a weapon.” [ NYCLU ] 6. 85% of those stopped were black or Hispanic even though those groups make up about half of NYC’s population. [NYT, 5/17/12 ] 7. Young black and Latino men account for 4.7% of NYC’s population but 41.6% of the stops in 2011. [ NYCLU ] 8. The number of stops involving young black men in 2011 (168,124) exceed the city’s population of young black men (158,406). [NYT, 5/15/12 ] 9. Even in overwhelmingly white neighborhoods, police stopped more blacks than whites. [NYT, 5/15/12 ] 10. In 2012, police are on pace to make more than 800,000 stops, more than twice the population of Miami. [NYT, 5/15/12 ] Bloomberg and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently “endorsed a proposal to decriminalize the open possession of small amounts of marijuana ,” a move intended to limit the number of arrests that result from stops. The announcement was praised by civil rights leaders. Other New York City politicians, including City Council speaker Christine Quinn, have called for more dramatic reforms of the policy.

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