The grateful parents of a troubled teenager left an anonymous note for the New York Police Department's (NYPD) 19th precinct. Signed with only "mother" and "father" at the end, the letter stated that they owe the cops their son's renewed life.
The 19th precinct posted the note on their Twitter account Monday. It stated how the parents have had a tough time dealing with their son's addiction, behavioral problems and failures in school until that fateful night when the cops stopped and frisked their son and subsequently booked him in jail.
Spending a night behind bars served as a wakeup call for the teenager, who was set to face a judge for felony. He decided to get help and go to rehab for his drug problems. The parents said that he has "been clean" since the incident.
We may seem like the bad guys to some people, but it's letters like this that make our work worth it & truly life changing. #NYPDconnecting pic.twitter.com/vMGW6ebBu1
— NYPD 19th Precinct (@NYPD19Pct) January 16, 2017
It is legal for the NYPD to stop and frisk civilians in the state. The move is regarded as a crime deterrent despite protests from locals that it is unconstitutional. President-elect Donald Trump is said to be in favor of it, The Washington Post reports.
The policy was enforced during the term of Mayor Rudy Guiliani. Succeeding mayors retained the Stop-and-Frisk despite appeals that some abusive cops used this for racial profiling and targeting minorities. Data from the New York Civil Liberties Union revealed that hundred-thousand New York residents were stopped and frisked since 2002 but it has winded down to 10,171 in 2016.
The parents' letter to the NYPD, however, has given authorities validation that they are doing something right. "It is still a great way to lower crime and make gun arrests," a source for the police said, according to New York Post.
The Stop-and-Frisk policy remains in effect in New York, albeit with some changes. Learn more about it in this video below.
