Police Work to Balance Crime Fighting With Protecting Citizens’ Rights

I have to be honest. The first thing I thought of looking 
at that PUNK ASS in the officer's face, was embedding 
the glass shield into his forehead....Oh Well

Increase in gun violence reignites a debate across the country

An increase in gun violence in New York City and other large municipalities across the country is reigniting a debate about how aggressive police officers should be in trying to prevent crime while protecting the rights of suspects and innocent citizens.

The most recent dilemma drew national attention this spring after 25-year-old Freddie Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury while in police custody in Baltimore, sparking riots. Six officers were charged in the case.

Cities such as Chicago and Newark, N.J., also have struggled to contain violence in recent years as police have been taken to task over their tactics.

But the issue of striking the right balance between policing and civil rights is particularly resonant in New York City, where first-term Mayor Bill de Blasio was elected in 2013 on a campaign to rein in “stop-and-frisks,” the police practice of questioning suspects and in some cases patting them down for weapons or drugs.

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In what some observers see as a contradictory move, the Democratic mayor also has endorsed the longtime “broken windows” approach to policing—pursuing small offenses to deter more serious ones—supported by Police Commissioner William Bratton.

Against this backdrop, the New York Police Department said it has seen a nearly 9% increase in shootings and a 19.5% boost in murders in the first five months of this year compared with a year ago. Of the 135 murders through May, 98 were the result of shootings.

While, Mr. de Blasio and his defenders note that shootings and murders remain far below the highs of previous years and that overall crime is down, the increase in gun violence has stirred concern. A community activist recently took a coffin to City Hall to highlight the issue, criticizing the mayor for not giving full attention to the upswing in violent crime.

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