>> Ed: MICHAEL BLOOMBERG SET TO FACE HIS 2020 RIVALS ON THE
SAME STAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME
TOMORROW NIGHT AFTER QUALIFYING
FOR THE DEBATE IN LAS VEGAS
AMIDST A WAVE OF CONTROVERSY
WITH HIS POLICE DEPARTMENT’S
USE OF STOP AND FRISK WHEN HE
WAS MAYOR IN NEW YORK.
HIS PREDECESSOR RUDY GIULIANI.
YOU DID STOP AND FRISK FOR
EIGHT YEARS.
EIGHT YEARS. HE DID IT FOR 12.
HOW WILL HE TRY TO RUN AWAY
FROM THIS NOW?
>> I DON’T KNOW HOW HE RUNS
AWAY FROM IT.
HE WAS A PASSIONATE SUPPORTER
OF IT.
OF IT. HE EVEN ASKED ME TO WRITE A
LETTER, AMICUS BRIEF IN SUPPORT
OF IT.
OF IT. WE DID IT TWICE.
I DID IT BUT HAD SOME
RELUCTANCE.
RELUCTANCE. HE CHANGED THE PROGRAM.
THE PROGRAM THAT THE THREE
PEOPLE AND I DEVELOPED WAS A
MORE CAREFUL PROGRAM.
I GUESS THE EASIEST WAY TO
DESCRIBE IT IS IN 2001 THE
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WANTED TO
BRING SUIT AGAINST US FOR
VIOLATING CIVIL RIGHTS.
I ASKED FOR A MEETING WITH
JANET RENO AND ERIC HOLDER AND
I TALKED THEM OUT OF BRINGING
THE SUIT.
THE SUIT. I SHOWED THEM OUR STATISTICS
WERE PERFECT.
WERE PERFECT. THAT WE WERE FOLLOWING NOT
RACE, WE WERE FOLLOWING
COMPLAINTS.
COMPLAINTS. IN OTHER WORDS, WHY DID WE
SEARCH 70% AFRICAN-AMERICAN
MALES?
MALES? WE DID IT BECAUSE 75% OF OUR
COMPLAINTS WERE OF
AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALES WHO
COMMITTED VIOLENT CRIMES.
SO WHO ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GO
LOOK FOR?
LOOK FOR? IN OTHER WORDS, THE
AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY WAS
SELECTING FOR US WHO TO GO LOOK
FOR.
FOR. >> Ed: YOU SHOWED THEM
STATISTICS AT THE CLINTON
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT YOU ARE
SAYING THAT CRIME WAS COMING
DOWN AND --
>> CRIME WAS COMING DOWN AND WE
KEPT IT CAREFULLY LIMITED TO 95
TO 100,000.
TO 100,000. THAT’S WHAT WE COULD MANAGE.
WHAT THEY LOST SIGHT OF, I
THINK, BECAUSE THEY AREN’T
LAWYERS.
LAWYERS. >> Ed: BLOOMBERG TOOK OVER AND
TOOK IT FROM 100,000.
>> 600,000 STOPS AS OPPOSED TO
100,000 STOPS.
100,000 STOPS. YOU JUST CAN’T MAKE A STOP.
WHICH IS WHAT IT BECAME.
WE UNDERSTOOD THE LAW.
THE LAW IS KERRY VERSUS UNITED
STATES SAYING IF A POLICE
OFFICER HAS REASONABLE
SUSPICION THAT YOU ARE
COMMITTING A CRIME.
HE SEES SOMETHING THAT LOOKS
LIKE NARCOTICS.
LIKE NARCOTICS. HE THINK HE SEES IT.
HE IS ALLOWED TO STOP.
CAN’T ARREST YOU YET.
QUESTION YOU.
QUESTION YOU. IN THE PROCESS OF THE
QUESTIONING, IF HE DEVELOPS ANY
MORE SUSPICION HE CAN FRISK YOU
IN ORDER TO PROTECT HIMSELF.
REALLY IT SHOULD BE DESCRIBED
AS STOP, QUESTION, FRISK.
AND YOU HAVE TO MEMORIALIZE
THAT.
THAT. IN OTHER WORDS, YOU HAVE TO
WRITE THAT OUT AND WHEN THE DAY
COMES HOW MANY BAD ONES DID YOU
HAVE?
HAVE? IF YOU HAVE A LOT OF BLANK
PAPER AND IF THEY’RE DOING
600,000 YOU HAVE A LOT OF BLANK
PAPER.
PAPER. >> Ed: HE HAS COME UNDER FIRE
FOR COMMENTS ON RACE WHERE HE
SUGGESTED WE WERE MOSTLY IN
MINORITY NEIGHBORHOODS BECAUSE
THAT’S WHERE THE CRIME WAS BUT
A MOMENT AGO YOU WERE SAYING
THE HIGH PERCENTAGE WAS
AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALES.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALES. HOW DO YOU BALANCE THAT?
>> YOU SHOULD NOT PUT POLICE
OFFICERS IN PLACES WHERE THERE
IS NO CRIME.
OTHERWISE YOU WON’T HAVE POLICE
OFFICERS IN THE PLACES THERE
ARE CRIME.
ARE CRIME. MY USE OF STOP, QUESTION, FRISK
WAS COMPLETELY DETERMINED BY --
IT WAS STATISTICAL.
IF THERE WERE 50 COMPLAINTS
AGAINST WHITES THAT DAY, THEN
THE POLICE OFFICERS WOULD GO
LOOK FOR WHITES.
I SAY THE STATISTICAL THING IS
STUPID.
STUPID. IF YOU GO BY STATISTICS YOU
WANT TO BE FAIR, 53% OF THE
TIME WE SHOULD SEARCH WOMEN
BECAUSE THEY MAKE UP 53% OF THE
POPULATION.
POPULATION. >> Ed: YOU WANTED TO FOLLOW
CRIME AND STAMP IT OUT.
>> IT WASN’T RACIST.
THEY WERE BEING SELF-SELECTED.
MOST OF THE PEOPLE THAT TOLD US
THE RACE OF THE SUSPECTED
CRIMINAL WAS BLACK WERE BLACK
PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS ABOUT 80%
BLACK -- YOU HAVE TO PROVE