Mike Bloomberg’s insulting idiocy — and the real truth about stop-and-frisk

New York Post ^ | February 15, 2020 | Post Editorial Board

[karpov]

The tape of Mike Bloomberg’s 2015 defense of stop, question and frisk presents his own successful policies in a way guaranteed to repulse fair-minded listeners.

Indeed, his claim that “the way you get the guns out of the kids’ hands is to throw them up against the walls and frisk them” is an insult to the police officers tasked with using stop-and-frisk to fight crime: NYPD cops strive to use the least force necessary now — and they did then, too.

Oh, and: “Ninety-five percent of your murders — murderers and murder victims — fit one M.O.,” he said — also wrong: M.O., modus operandi, refers to a criminal’s behavior. He wasn’t wrong that the vast majority of those perps are “male, minorities, 16 to 25” — but his remark that “you can just take the description, Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops” doesn’t begin to match how cops actually work: A description has always needed more detail than that to justify police action — with details about height, clothing and so on.

It’s as if Bloomberg thought he was addressing an audience of racists. Is that his opinion of the Aspen Institute elite?

Let’s set the record straight.

For starters, most stops have always ended at the “question” phase — proceeding to a frisk only if a civilian’s answers or behavior give an officer cause for deeper suspicion. And stop-question-and-sometimes-frisk is a basic policing tool, still in NYPD use, although at a far lower level.

Second: Even before the early ’90s policing revolution, the NYPD put far more street resources in neighborhoods that have more street crime — which means lower-income, mostly minority areas.

And it has done so to protect the mainly lower-income, mostly minority victims of that street crime

[headstamp 2]

This issue notwithstanding, Bloomberg is the epitome of a moneyed elitist.

A total globalist puppet of the Chinese who couldn’t give a damn about the middle class or the country’s borders. This is the avenue by which he needs to be attacked.

[Bernard]

“the way you get the guns out of the kids’ hands is to throw them up against the walls and frisk them” is an insult to the police officers

Sounds like another harmless short-guy fantasy. Have to give Mike some room for his dreams.

[GOPJ]

According to liberal the way to ‘get the guns’ is to take them from law biding citizens who have NEVER committed a crime.

[GOPJ]

Conservatives use the term ‘elite’ as an insult. The implication is ‘white liberal elite’ and has nothing to be with being an ‘elitist’...

[libertylover]

I can’t see Bloomberg’s candidacy going very far after this. The left wants to claim this sensible policy is racist while the right realizes that Bloomberg is spineless and will cave on anything, especially if it makes sense.

[chopperk]

Bloomers is a liar.

[lepton]

The policy is good. Bloomberg’s statements go beyond, and he’s wrong in many specifics - like he never really understood the program run under his administration. His denouncements suggest he was denouncing something other than the actual program - and pandering.

[Verginius Rufus]

Hannity went on a rant against Bloomberg the other evening for the 95% figure, saying he was a racist since crimes are committed by members of all groups. What is the correct figure for murders in NYC committed by members of minority groups?