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Thompson Unveils Plan To Reform Stop-And-Frisk

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Democratic mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson on Tuesday laid out his proposal to modify the controversial stop-and-frisk program.

Standing in front of NYPD headquarters, Thompson said he would have a new police commissioner who would eliminate what he said are quotas or productivity goals that demand cops conduct a certain number of stops and frisks.

He said he would also have cops retrained if he becomes the next mayor.

Thompson Unveils Plan To Reform Stop-And-Frisk

"I'll require police officers to provide every person stopped to receive a ticket. Officers will provide people with written information on why he or she was stopped, why it's happening, what led to the stop and why the police officer chose to stop the individual," Thompson said. "This additional data of stops and frisks will be updated regularly in CompStat, tracking to better provide transparency to the public and inform crime prevention methods in neighborhoods."

Thompson Unveils Plan To Reform Stop-And-Frisk

Thompson said officers would be able to fill out the tickets in about a minute.

The former city comptroller added protecting civil rights and preventing crime do not have to be competing ideas.

Thompson, the only black person in the mayoral race, has previously said that they way stop-and-frisk is conducted is akin to institutionalized bias.

Last week, a federal judge ruled in a civil suit that stop-and-frisk violated the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs, and appointed a monitor to oversee changes to the policy.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has staunchly defended the practice, saying it has helped drive down violent crime over his tenure.

Over the weekend, police commissioner Ray Kelly made the Sunday talk show circuit to defend stop-and-frisk.

Opponents of the practice has labeled it as racial profiling, a charge the city denies.

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