Bill Thompson on stop-and-frisk: Officers would give ticket explaining stop

New York City mayoral candidate Bill Thompson join Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC’s The Last Word yesterday, sharing his plan to require a ticket being written for every stop-and-frisk.

O’Donnell opened the segment by showing the new PSA from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, which dramatizes the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

“I think it is a policy that has been misused and abused by this administration,” Thompson said in regards to Mayor Bloomberg’s position on stop-and-frisk.

“Well I think there are a number of things,” Thompson responded to the question of what he would do as NYC mayor on the issue of stop-and-frisk. “First, eliminate profiling. I think it can be done. It requires a mayor who takes responsibility and leadership and hires a police commissioner who will do the same thing.”

Thompson said he would eliminate quotas for police and suggested giving tickets to citizens explaining why they had been stopped.

“And when people are stopped, having an officer hand them a reason why. ‘This is the reason you were stopped.’ And it at least explains that,” Thompson said.

The Democratic primary for NYC mayor is set for September 10.

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals

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