A host of stories document how the New York Police Department operates outside the very laws it is charged with enforcing. In October 2011, a former NYPD narcotics detective testified that he regularly saw police plant drugs on innocent people as a way to meet arrest quotas. The NYPD’s controversial “stop and frisk” program has invested seventy-five million dollars to arrest suspects for possessing minimal amounts of marijuana. Each arrest costs approximately $1,000 to $2,000. Although NYPD use of unlawful restraints and disproportionate force to arrest peaceful Occupy protesters has received some news coverage, police brutality directed against people of color continues to go underreported.

Censored News Cluster: The Police State and Civil Liberties

John Del Signore, “NYPD Narcotics Detective Admits Cops Regularly Plant Drugs on Perps,” Gothamist, October 13, 2011, http://gothamist.com/2011/10/13/nypd_narcotics_detective_testifies.php.

Jesse Levine, “New York City Wasting $75 Million a Year on Marijuana Arrests,” AlterNet, March 15, 2011, http://www.alternet.org/story/150263/new_york_city_wasting_$75_million_a_year_on_marijuana_arrests

http://www.mediafreedominternational.org/2011/11/21/new-york-police-plant-drugs-on-innocent-people-to-meet-arrest-quotas/

http://www.mediafreedominternational.org/2011/04/04/new-york-city-wasting-75-million-a-year-on-marijuana-arrests/

Student Researcher: Cary Escovedo (Sonoma State University)

Faculty Evaluator: Sheila Katz (Sonoma State University)

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