Tenants in public housing in New York are suing the NYPD over its "stop-and-frisk" policy - a policy that allows police to stop ordinary citizens, question and frisk them, regardless of any reasonable suspicion. When police representatives were asked to explain and answer questions about the policy for residents, they were silent.

Under the policy, whether or not the police catch you doing anything wrong, your name goes into a database kept by the NYPD. The state branch of the American Civil Liberties Union says the policy violates a state law that requires that criminal records be sealed if someone is acquitted.

Being a public housing resident isn't grounds for an illegal search or to be detained. Let's find policing strategies where officers engage the people they're supposed to serve and protect, not antagonize them.