A Stop and Frisk incident secretly recorded audio of New York City police officers aggressively stopping a teenager in Harlem.  The recording was obtained by The Nation magazine and published on its website.  NYPD’s controversial policy, which is backed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and officially known as “Stop, Question and Frisk,” is under fire by civil, constitutional and human rights advocates.

The recording is rare insight into how civilians, primarily Blacks and Latinos, are subjected to humiliating, unprofessional and uncivil treatment by New York City police when executing the law enforcement policy.

(BBN Editor’s Note: We strongly encourage readers to watch the film clip below).

(Photo: Techcrunch) Text from the audio recorded on “Alvin’s” iPod.

The Nation – Stopped-and-Frisked: ‘For Being a F**king Mutt’

Exclusive audio obtained by The Nation of a stop-and-frisk carried out by the New York Police Department freshly reveals the discriminatory and unprofessional way in which this controversial policy is being implemented on the city’s streets.

On June 3, 2011, three plainclothes New York City Police officers stopped a Harlem teenager named Alvin and two of the officers questioned and frisked him while the third remained in their unmarked car. Alvin secretly captured the interaction on his cell phone, and the resulting audio is one of the only known recordings of stop-and-frisk in action.

In the course of the two-minute recording, the officers give no legally valid reason for the stop, use racially charged language and threaten Alvin with violence. Early in the stop, one of the officers asks, “You want me to smack you?” When Alvin asks why he is being threatened with arrest, the other officer responds, “For being a fucking mutt.” Later in the stop, while holding Alvin’s arm behind his back, the first officer says, “Dude, I’m gonna break your fuckin’ arm, then I’m gonna punch you in the fuckin’ face.”

About the documentary filmmakers:

Erin Schneider is a filmmaker and producer of a documentary on stop-and-frisk.  Ross Tuttle is a documentary filmmaker and freelance journalist living in New York who is working on a long-form documentary examining various aspects of the criminal justice system in New York.

Listen to the full audio of the stop on The Nation

Visit the New York Civil Liberties Union for more information efforts to end NYPD’s Stop and Frisk policy.

Photo: BBN, Stop and Frisk Silent March, NYC, June 17, 2012