Bloomberg Campaign Press Release - Mike Bloomberg Took Responsibility and Apologized for the Impacts of Stop and Frisk

NEW YORK — Mike Bloomberg has apologized for not fully understanding the full impact the NYPD's practice of stop and frisk was having on Black and Latino communities. The mark of a leader is admitting mistakes and apologizing.

Last week, Mike launched Mike for Black America in Houston where he took full responsibility for the mistakes he made and deeply regretted the abuse of stop and frisk. He said that stop and frisk was an approach that he deeply regrets. He also admitted that he defended it for far too long because he didn't understand the unintended pain it was causing young Black and Brown families. He said that he should have acted sooner and faster to stop it.

Mike has spent a lot of time speaking with Black leaders and community members and listened to their stories, heard their pain, their confusion, and their anger, and he has learned from them and grown from them. As president, he will take the lessons he has learned and work to dismantle systems that are plagued by bias and discrimination and right the wrongs of institutional racism wherever they exist – in our schools, workplaces, prisons, courtrooms, and our health care system and housing markets.

Mike introduced his Greenwood Initiative, a set of policies which will address systemic discrimination and promote economic justice for Black America. His plan lays out a realistic path to create 1 million new Black homeowners and 100,000 new Black-owned businesses over the next decade. The Greenwood Initiative also includes a $70 billion investment in America's 100 most disadvantaged neighborhoods.

As Mayor of New York City, he reduced the incarceration rate, narrowed the achievement gap, and started the Young Men's Initiative to improve the lives of Black teens. Mike is now second among all the Democratic candidates with Black voters, who understand that Trump's re-election represents an existential and unprecedented threat to our future. We must nominate a candidate who can beat him – the only candidate to do that is Mike.

Mike reduced the number of stops before he left office by 95 percent: