Meaghan Sempowich

Ms. Caruso

Uwrite

6 April 2017

Defense Paper

In New York City, there is a law called Stop and Frisk. Stop and

Frisk is when police temporarily confine someone and pat down their

clothing when there is probable cause leading the police officer to

believe person is armed and dangerous according to US Legal (1).

Majority of the suspects called into question are Black and Latino men.

This has people questioning whether Stop and Frisk is racial profiling.

New York times did an article on whether Stop and Frisk was racial

discrimination. The article discusses how Judge Shira Scheindlin of

Federal District Court in New York City ruled that the approach police

took on Stop and Frisk violated the constitutional rights of the

minoritys (Editorial Board, 1). Many of those who have been wrongfully

Stopped and Frisked have major side effects such as lashing out,

hating police, and many more violent things. This racial profiling is

unacceptable and that is why I created a billboard to help those who

have been wrongfully Stopped and Frisked.

For my billboard I start off by using two images. The first image is

a man with his hands up and is in the position to be frisked. In my

other image it is of a wall that is painted on a street corner. The first

thing most peoples eyes go to is the African American man on the

bottom right. He is your stereotypical black male with a hoodie and

looks up to no good. If you look to the left of him you see the fourth

amendment which states police can stop someone if they look

suspicious of committing, about to commit, or committed a crime. If

you look in the back of the picture you see the police frisking two

gentlemen that are both African American. This goes to show that

majority of the stops are people of color. In relation to when I talked

about side effects you can see the other African American yelling out of

anger. To summarize it up there are two African American ladies

walking in front of the painting, which indicates that this painting is in a

heavily populated minority neighborhood. Lastly, at the bottom I put

the number to a law firm specific for those who have been wrongly

Stopped and Frisked. This number is going to help prosecute the police

that have stopped minorities because of color and not for suspicious

reasoning.

On my billboard the major colors are red and black. Different

colors symbolize different meanings and red and black help get my

message across to my audience. Red is the color of anger and blood.

The minorities are angry how they are treated unfairly and blood

represent how violent they get because of the mistreatment. Red also

symbolizes the devil. Those who have been targeted for Stop and Frisk

view police officers as the devil and not a hero like they should. For the
color black I used it to represent colored people. The color black also

represents evil and scary. This law is very evil with the way it is

practiced and should have more restrictions.

For the location of my billboard I will put it on the major highways

of New York. New York has one of the largest populations in the United

States. This results in an abundant amount of traffic for hours on hours.

While drivers are bored in their cars they can look at my billboard and

can call the number. Another place I would put my billboard is in New

York City. The city gets looked at by hundreds of tourists a day. This will

aware those of the law and have them beware of the police when

walking around. My targeted audience for this billboard is mostly

minoritys but also everyone who has been unlawfully Stopped and

Frisked.
 Work cited

Legal, Inc. US. "USLegal." Stop and Frisk Law and Legal

Definition | USLegal, Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

"Racial Discrimination in Stop-and-Frisk." The New York Times.

The New York Times, 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.