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Stop and frisk gets renewed attention in Bloomberg candidacy

Posted at 4:04 PM, Feb 16, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-16 20:53:59-05

NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg's history on stop and frisk is getting renewed attention as he campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination. The New York Police Department began increasing its emphasis on stop and frisk in the 1990s, when Republican Rudy Giuliani was mayor.

RELATED: 'I was wrong': Bloomberg apologizes for 'Stop and Frisk' policy ahead of potential 2020 bid

But stops soared under Bloomberg. He apologized in November for the practice he had defended, even after a federal judge found the stops discriminated against those who were black or Latino.

Criticism has resurfaced with a 2015 recording of him saying the way to bring down murder rates is to "put a lot of cops" in minority neighborhoods because that's where "all the crime is." Bloomberg apologized again after the remarks.