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Article: The Efficiency of Frisks in the NYPD, 2004–2010

The Frisk program in the New York Police Department (NYPD) has been a controversial subject concerning its legality, efficiency, and equity. In the article titled, The Efficiency of Frisks in the NYPD, 2004–2010, Joseph Ferrandino adapts a different research methodological approach in the police frisking issue. Previously, the frisk policy was approached from a legal and equity point of view. Allegations of ethnic profiling in relation to the demographics have surfaced. At times, the number of frisks done is relatively high in comparison to the actual police action taken after the frisks are done raising concerns over their efficiency. Previous studies have revealed significant disparities in the frisks among black and Hispanic citizens (Ferrandino, 2013). The frisk policy has been justified because it helps to control crime and entry of illegal substances such as drugs. On the other hand, the proponents of the policy have proposed a purposive and proactive course of action rather than isolating it as racial or social profiling policy. Researchers concur that less empirical evidence is available on the effectiveness of the frisk policy. Considerable literature exists on the equity of the application of the frisk policy.

Ferrandino adopts a longitudinal approach in the analysis of the efficiency of the frisk policy. The researcher adopts another variable of testing the technical efficiency during the frisking of the suspects. The article explores the efficiency of the frisking policy, the technical efficiency, the departmental trend over time, the number of fewer frisks that should occur to achieve efficiency as well as the number of arrests, gun seizures, and contraband discoveries based on the amount of frisks performed annually. The results of the tests on the research items reveal that frisking by the police is a subjective act based on its nature and legality. People will always be subjected to frisks even though no further police action is taken after the event. In this case, a degree of inefficiency is introduced in the frisk policy as a policing tool (Ferrandino, 2013). The New York Police Department been under scrutiny due to the malpractices in the frisk policy. In this research, the police department has had informed performance as well as Decision making units that are inefficient in the application of the frisk policy. Through the analysis of their effectiveness based on the police action, technical efficiency during the frisks, and departmental trends, the NYPD will have the potential of alleviating malpractices and employ more equitable and effective frisks.

The police officers have various reasons for conducting frisks and questioning a citizen. Frisking is an intrusive action by legal standards. Enhancement of technical efficiency in the frisking will reduce total frisks conducted significantly. The researcher concurs that the research on efficiency is a complex issue given that it requires use of precise analytics with accurate sequencing (Karmen, 2013). The results revealed a weak negative correlation between change in the number of frisks and the crime index. The mean output efficiency was statistically significant and positively correlated to the proportion of change in reported crime index. Based on these results, the police would improve the effectiveness of the frisks by utilizing technology. In summary, the increase in frisks cannot be justified as an effective mechanism for crime reduction given that crime index had started to decline even before the surge in frisks. There are diminishing returns in the increased frisks as a policy tool. Therefore, the police should balance its frisks to the outcomes of the frisk policy to improve its efficiency. Further research is needed on the equity in the frisks in relation to the number of frisks conducted to help the police to improve in their work

References

Ferrandino, J. (2013). The Efficiency of Frisks in the NYPD, 2004–2010.Criminal Justice Review, 38(2), 149-168.

Karmen, A. (2013). Zero tolerance in NewYork City: hard questions for a get-tough policy. Hard Cop, Soft Cop, 23.

Larkin Jr, P. J. (2013). Stops and Frisks, Race, and the Constitution. Geo. Wash. L. Rev., 82, 1.