MSNBC Guest Links David Dinkins to Lower NYC Crime, Ignores Giuliani
On Thursday's PoliticsNation on MSNBC, as host Al Sharpton devoted a segment to discrediting the NYPD's Stop-and-Frisk policy, Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, appearing as a guest, misleadingly recounted that crime began to drop during the early 1990s administration of Democratic Mayor David Dinkins to argue that the more recently implemented Stop-and-Frisk has had little impact on crime.
Rep. Jeffries did not even mention that dramatic drops in crime occurred primarily after Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani succeeded Dinkins. Jeffries:
The numbers, Reverend Sharpton, as you've consistently pointed out, speak for themselves. Stop-and-Frisk has nothing to do with the dramatic decline in crime that actually began to take place 20 years ago during the last two years of the Dinkins administration-
After host sharpton injected, "That's correct," the Democratic Congressman continued:
-where Stop-and-Frisk wasn't utilized, but there was a dramatic infusion of the number of police officers that were displayed and put on the streets, particularly in high-crime areas.
Jeffries had previously mentioned crime beginning to decline during the Dinkins administration as he appeared as a guest on All In with Chris Hayes on July 17. Jeffries:
Well, Stop-and-Frisk, of course, has nothing to do with the fact that crime is down in New York City. Crime has been on the decline for the last 20 years, beginning, interestingly enough, during the last two years of the Dinkins administration in '92 and '93, when Ray Kelly was police commissioner who at that time embraced community policing and began this dramatic decline in crime.
Murder reached a high point during the Dinkins administration, and dropped slightly in the couple of years before he left office, but a more dramatic decline came after Giuliani took office.
Below are transcript of relevant portions of the August 15 PoliticsNation and the July 17 All In with Chris Hayes on MSNBC:
#From the August 15 PoliticsNation:
AL SHARPTON: Congressman, let me go to you first. What's your reaction to the news that New York officials will begin appealing the Stop-and-Frisk ruling tomorrow?
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Well, the stubborn resistance to the fact that Stop-and-Frisk program is unnecessary, unconscionable, and now has been declared unconstitutional is really unfortunate. The numbers, Reverend Sharpton, as you've consistently pointed out, speak for themselves. Stop-and-Frisk has nothing to do with the dramatic decline in crime that actually began to take place 20 years ago during the last two years of the Dinkins administration-
SHARPTON: That's correct.
JEFFRIES: -where Stop-and-Frisk wasn't utilized, but there was a dramatic infusion of the number of police officers that were displayed and put on the streets, particularly in high-crime areas. The Stop-and-Frisk program doesn't target criminals, it targets innocent, law-abiding individuals. And NYPD's own numbers illustrate that fact -- 88 percent of the people who were stopped, questioned and frisked did nothing wrong. No gun, no drugs, no weapon, no contraband, nothing at all. The only thing they've been guilty of, apparently, is being in the wrong neighborhood and the wrong color of skin. That's unfortunate and-
SHARPTON: Fitting the profile.
#From the July 17, All In with Chris Hayes:
CHRIS HAYES: Congressman, let me say this. We reached out to Ray Kelly, asked them to come on. We never heard back from them. But his defenders will say, pointing at all this, the record speaks for itself. Crime is down in New York City, and this is amazing and there hasn't been a terrorist attack in the city since 9/11, and much of that has to do with Ray Kelly's leadership and his brass tacks, hard-nosed approach. What do you say to that?
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Well, Stop-and-Frisk, of course, has nothing to do with the fact that crime is down in New York City. Crime has been on the decline for the last 20 years, beginning, interestingly enough, during the last two years of the Dinkins administration in '92 and '93, when Ray Kelly was police commissioner who at that time embraced community policing and began this dramatic decline in crime.
There's a 90 percent error rate in the Stop-and-Frisk program. No corporation in America would tolerate such an error rate. And you can't argue based on the numbers that it has an effect on the decrease in crime in New York City.
And so I don't think that there's any factually based argument or any case to make. He should get credit as the mayor should for the continued decline in crime, but these violations of civil rights and civil liberties that he's presided over, both as it relates to the Muslim surveillance program and the Stop-and-Frisk program cannot be excused.
-- Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center
