MYFOXNY.COM -
Civil rights leaders joined the Reverend Al Sharpton at his National Action Network office for a rally protesting the NYPD's "Stop and Frisk" program on Saturday.
The Stop and Frisk program allows officers to question and search passersby deemed suspicious. It's an issue that has galvanized New Yorkers in all five boroughs, but especially those in Hispanic and black neighborhoods.
Sharpton was joined at the rally by the fathers of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed Florida teen who was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer and Ramarley Graham, the Bronx teen who was shot by police who thought he had a gun during a drug bust.
Tracy Martin and Frank Graham spoke at the rally to support a planned silent march Sunday against racial profiling and the policy of street stops.
Benjamin Jealous, President of the NAACP, New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer also attended.
Speaking at a church in Brownsville last week, Mayor Bloomberg said the average officer makes one stop every 10 days and conducts a frisk every 19 days -- a practice, he says, saves lives.
"Last year, those frisks produced 780 guns, and 5,872 knives and 1,572 other dangerous weapons. Just as importantly, it unquestionably deterred many from carrying those weapons in the first place by making it too hot to carry," said Bloomberg.
But those that packed Reverend Sharpton's East Harlem office on Saturday disagree saying of the more than half million stopped in 2011, over 80 percent were black or Latino.
"Mayor Bloomberg we have looked at your stats and it's a sham," said Donna Lieberman of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said, "It's a wrong police tactic. We need to mend it and change it so it's free of harassment."
Saturday's rally is a preview of Sunday's silent march to end stop and frisk.
Organizers say its no coincidence the march will happen on Fathers Day.
To drive their point home, they've invited Trayvon Martin's father Tracy Martin to join their fight.
"Anytime I talk about my son, it's tough. It bears to imagine tomorrow without him," said Martin. "I will spend the rest of my living days for my son. My son could be your son."
Mayor Bloomberg concedes the policy needs reworking – still those in attendance say that's not enough and it has to end.
Sunday's silent march begins on West 110th Street traveling down 5th Avenue and ending at 78th Street. They will march past the Mayors' home on East 79th Street.
