Jim, your now trying to turn the argument into semantics not facts. Unfortunately on both factors you're still wrong. Probable cause is the standard by which an officer or agent of the law has the grounds to conduct a personal or property search, among other things. This is provided for in the 4th Amendment. be seized.

But for arguments sake, let's go with your reasonable suspicion. Skin color and perceived ethnic background does not provide "reasonable suspicion", but the statistics point to just that being used to determine suspicion.

Meatwnyc, a police office needs reasonable suspicion to stop and question someone not probable cause. Amy, I agree that SQF can and most likely has been abused at times, but it still not the "policy" of the NYPD to unlawfully stop and search persons. What needs to be established are policies that prevent the possibility of abuse. The NYPD needs to stop using the amount of stops that an officer conducts as a measure of performance and instead look at the quality of stops to gauge performance.

Better a kabuki budget than the typical bukaki budget that Congress typically imposes on the electorate.

Jim, I think the "policy" part is about how the police *implement* their power to conduct searches, & according to numerous reports, they often do stop-&-frisks without enough reason to suspect the people they stop, which violates the 4th Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches & is therefore not a power police officers have. If the NYPD started, for example, telling police officers to prompt crime victims to give more detailed descriptions than age, race, & sex & not to stop every young black man in the area, that would be a change in policy.

Jim, Stop & Frisk is a policy issue. Police need probable cause to search people. The way around this is to be searching everyone for something in particular, like road stops generally do. The statistics say that not everyone is getting searched, and based on the numbers it seems the 'probable cause' is defined as ethnic background.

I bet Paul Ryan or Ron Paul [or Karl Rove or Mitt Romney, etc etc] could solve the library problem: tear them down and put a B&N in their place.

(A solution I DON'T think is good).

when do we find out if this budget will pass?

The media and others keep referring to the NYPD Stop, Question and Frisk as a policy or program. Stop, Question and Frisk is a power that Police Officers have as per the US Supreme court and the NYS Criminal Procedure Law. Much the same as the power of arrest. To use the term policy makes it sound as if SQF was created by the NYPD. It is something preformed by Law Enforcement agencies through out the country.

Why isn't there any analysis for the elimination of the Office of the President for the five boroughs? Let these personnel take a civil service test if they want to remain employed and eliminate these redundant services which are supposedly provided by this office.

Excuse my cynicism, but this is a kabuki budget, designed ot let Quinn ride to the rescue by restoring the cuts and run for mayor as a hero.

When I was a kid, growing up in Brownsville, the local library on Stone Avenue (now Mother Gaston street) was my refuge from the chaos on the streets. Libraries are safehouses for kids on the streets they can duck into.