Researchers for Fair Policing Website http://researchersforfairpolicing.org

Opening Video Clip http://researchersforfairpolicing.org/video/

▪  Young people, over several generations, have been

“growing up policed” in a city invested in Broken Windows policing

▪  Broken Windows policing focuses on minor (“quality of

life”) offenses and misdemeanor arrests with the faulty assumption that it prevents or lowers serious crime.

▪  Stop and frisk, asking for ID, being told to move and

other forms of police surveillance are common tactics of Broken Windows policing.

▪  This type of policing has been responsible for more than

20 years of aggressive targeting of communities of color in New York City.

89,487

163,031

205,996

268,949

241,587

283,186

310,484 318,134

370,442

284,418

100,168

79,026

146,718

184,659

245,595

213,386

252,702

277,403 279,583

331,613

256,196

89,513

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Stops Innocent stops

From 2003-2013, 14-25 year olds were stopped and questioned by police 2,660,189 times. Most of them were innocent (89%)!

Young people made up 53% of all police stops.

83% of young people stopped were Black and/or Latin@.

Young people are at the center of the police reform movement

•  Communities United for Police Reform •  Three major class action lawsuits •  A new mayor and new (old) commissioner •  City Council policy reforms •  Major NYC protests connecting to the national movement

Who we are Youth/Adult collaboration

•  between Make the Road New York and the Public Science Project (CUNY)

•  Began in the summer of 2012 to study what is means to Grow Up Policed in New York City

Youth research is an important part of the police reform movement. Our project sought to provide an avenue for us (young people) to produce our own knowledge rather than have adults define our relationship to policing. Our project sought to find ways for us (youth) to use valid data to meaningfully engage policy debates that directly affected our lives

¡  Participatory Methods §  Youth survey §  Video interview/testimonials §  Analyzing public NYPD data §  Creative methodologies (e.g. comic strips) §  Interactive digital research archive (Website)

¡  Demographics §  1,084 surveys collected ▪  14-25 year olds ▪  92% Black/Hispanic ▪  Only Black/Hispanic used in analysis

§  38 youth video testimonials collected

Our surveys came from people who live all over the city

1. Police are a constant presence in young people of color’s lives

Home

School

Public Spaces

89% of the young people of color who took our survey had some person contact with police since 2010

53% reported being stopped by police. 76% were stopped more than once 31% were stopped 5 times or more

67% of young men, 39% of young women, and 71% of youth

who identified as gender non-conforming were stopped by police (it is not just young men of color).

57% were asked to move by police.

Street: 61% experienced some form of negative police contact on the street

Home: 44% experienced some form of negative police contact in or near the home

School: 49% experienced some form of negative police (SSA) contact at school

2. Young people of color report an abundance of intrusive, unwanted and often very negative police contact

9%#

48%#

%#of#recorded#stops#that#involved#a#search#(NYPD#data)#

%#of#stops#reported#by#young#people#of#color#that#involved#a#search#(RFP#data)#

% of police stops that escalated to a search on young people of color between 2010-2013

(NYPD data vs RFP survey data)

NYPD reported that 9% of the stops on young people of color resulted in a search. Young people of color in our survey reported that 46% of the times they were stopped it led to a search. (personal experience is different from the official police reporting)

57%$

Of those young people of color who were stopped by police, the % who were searched at least once

82%$

Of$those$young$people$of$color$searched$by$police,$the$%$who$experienced$at$least$one$WITHOUT$CONSENT$$

57% of the young people of color who took our survey reported being searched by police at least once since 2010. Of those, 82% were searched WITHOUT CONSENT at least once in that time.

What happened when the young people of color had contact with police? 42% of those young people of color reported experiencing disrespectful/offensive engagement with police.

- including racist and homophobic or heterosexist comments “[the officer] asked if I had any bombs on me cause I looked like a terrorist” “I was told [by an officer] to shut up you little fag” “[the officer] said, ‘come here Mexico’“ “[the officer] said, ‘those niggers don't know any better.’”

31% reported experiencing an aggressive police encounter

- including being punched, slapped, pushed, kicked, gun pointed by the officer 23% reported seeking police for help and not receiving it 13% of young women reported experiencing sexual attention from with police.

“One cop asked me where I got my bra so he can get his daughter one.” “One cop asked me for my phone number”

3. Our research suggests a sense of surveillance and overall mistrust of police in the eyes of young people of color

74% of the young people of color said they feel targeted by police. 52% reported feeling generally unfavorable towards police 39% said their attitudes toward police have gotten worse since they were younger and only 11% said they have gotten better.

“They just think because they have a badge or uniform they have power and they could just treat us like garbage and that’s really unfair.”

75%$

43%$

SENSE$OF$SURVEILLANCE$ NEGOTIATING$SURVEILLANCE$

Sensing and Negotiating Police Surveillance

75% reported that they regularly felt and thought about police surveillance. 43% reported using strategies to negotiate the police surveillance.

What do young people think about police?

66%#

65%#

57%#

52%#

50%#

50%#

50%#

45%#

34%#

35%#

43%#

48%#

50%#

50%#

50%#

55%#

They%discriminate%

Abuse%power%

Dissa6sfied%with%the%police's%job%

Poor%role%models%

Create%problems%

Untrustworthy%

Unfair%

Dishonest% Honest%

Fair%

Trustworthy%

Prevent%problems%

Good%role%models%

Sa6sfied%with%the%police’s%job%

Use%power%wisely%

Don’t%discriminate%

27%$30%$

33%$ 35%$ 37%$ 36%$40%$

43%$

27%$

37%$

22%$

37%$ 35%$ 34%$

49%$ 49%$54%$ 53%$

47%$52%$

61%$

52%$

70%$ 72%$

65%$70%$

65%$ 65%$

74%$

65%$

76%$ 74%$

Unfair$ Poor$role$models$ Dishonest$ Create$problems$ Dissa?sfied$with$the$police's$job$ Untrustworthy$ Abuse$power$ They$discriminate$

Attitudes and Beliefs Towards Police in Relationship with Past Police Contact

No$police$contact$ Posi?ve$police$contact$only$ Both$posi?ve$and$nega?ve$ Nega?ve$police$contact$only$

◼ Jose Lopez has been appointed as one of 9 leaders serving on President Obama’s Task Force on Policing

◼ Adilka Pimentel has been appointed to the Joint Remedial Process Advisory Committee

◼ Darian X and Brett Stoudt used data to speak to New York City City Council and Policing Task Force

◼ More than A Quota Pop-Up Exhibition (300 people on first night)

◼ RFP has been part of MRNY Youth Power Project summer leadership program 4 years running

More than A Quota Pop-Up Exhibition hosted 300 people on the first night

RFP has been part of MRNY Youth Power Project Summer Leadership program 4 years running

¡  Research and activism go hand in hand §  Confirmed that activism is a continuous process of questioning, acting and reflecting

that must engage research. You can’t do one without the other.

¡  What we found both confirms and complicates some of our prior theories §  Research is nuanced and leads to more questions and deeper activism

¡  Young people have the right to know and the right to research. §  Self reliance of knowledge production, we don’t have to rely on official NYPD data,

transparency of facts ¡  Listening to organizers as sources of expertise is vital to good research

§  Improves quality of research by tapping into the brilliance of our research partner’s situated experiences

§  Creates meaningful ways of infusing research into the world, useful for social change.

¡  Youth are at the forefront of this social movement. We appreciate that young people are not just passively standing by as the police intervene in their lives.

¡  Brings university resources into the community §  Access to institutional resources of higher education for young people involved with MRNY §  Professors, and graduate students at the same table with young people learning together

(higher education feels more real)

¡  Skill building §  Writing, statistics, video production and multi-media work, critical thinking, theory building,

listening, observing, interview skills, survey making, data analysis, how to use research to agitate against negative policies

¡  Importance of caring, intergenerational, and intersectional relationships §  This work is more about long term solidarity than just short term allies in a movement