MOBILITZATION: Stop and frisk critics launch NYC voter drive
Civil rights and community groups that joined forces to decry New York Police Department tactics now aim to become an electoral force by registering thousands of voters concerned about the practice known as stop and frisk.
From an open-mike night for high-school seniors to a Brooklyn subway station to a shopping area in a heavily Asian-American community, the advocates said Monday they were setting out to energize people, especially young ones, who may see their frustrations with stop and frisk or the NYPD’s surveillance programs as reasons to vote when they might not otherwise.
With a high-stakes election at stake this fall, “we need our next mayor to be sensitive to the issues that we’re going through,” Aaron Hinton, a member of an organization that advocates for people affected by HIV and drug policies, said at a news conference outside City Hall. Hinton says he has been stopped more than 30 times.