If Mayor Bloomberg and his nanny-state imagination have their way, over 620,000 residents living in city public housing will have to be fingerprinted in order to enter their homes. While the comment appears to be off-handed, an aide has actually provided the method in which Bloomberg would accomplish this – via biometric devices, not traditional ink methods.
Via Politicker:
In a bid to boost security at public housing complexes, Mayor Michael Bloomberg this morning suggested fingerprinting residents so they can access their homes.
“What we really should have is fingerprinting to get in. And of course there’s an allegation that some of these apartments aren’t occupied by the people who originally have the lease,” said Mr. Bloomberg during his weekly radio sit-down with WOR’s John Gambling.
The mayor noted that, while New York City Housing Authority building house about five percent of the city’s population, they account for about 20 percent of city crime.
“We’ve just gotta find some ways to keep bringing crime down there,” he said, arguing that most people who live in the buildings want more police protection.
The comments come on the heels of Bloomberg’s stop-and-frisk policing policy being denounced as a method of racial profiling.
Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson called the proposal “another direct act of treating minorities like criminals.”
Bloomberg, much as he contends with stop-and-frisk, insists safety is the overriding factor for these controversial methods.
What do you think?