Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg could have a problem should he decide to run for president in 2020 over the “stop-and-frisk” policy he supported, CNN reports.
"I can't stand up here and tell you every decision I have made as mayor was perfect," Bloomberg, who recently re-registered as a Democrat, told attendees at a breakfast honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network.
"I listened to concerns, and I tried to be responsive,” the former mayor continued. “But I can tell you that we were always guided by the goal, first and foremost in all cases, of saving lives of those who faced the greatest risk of gun violence, young men of color, and by cutting murders in half I am glad to say some 1,600 people are alive today who otherwise would not be and most are young men from black and Hispanic communities."
Although Bloomberg didn’t mention the policy, it remains one of the most controversial aspects of his tenure as New York City mayor. The New York Civil Liberties Union found that more than 5 million stops were made under the policy during the mayor’s time in office. More than 50 percent of those stopped were black or Latino in 70 of New York’s 76 precincts, and more than 90 percent were black or Latino in 32 of them. According to the group, "Nearly 90 percent of young black and Latino men stopped were innocent."
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