JP

Joe Pascarella

Things Joe Says on Podcasts

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Joe Pascarella has been a guest on Planet Money .

Recently: “How surveillance crept up on us” on Planet Money (October 2026).

What They Said

“I thought, you know, a good way to cut down stops, just film everybody instead.” — Joe Pascarella, Planet Money

A former NYPD officer recalls his thinking in the early 2000s, when the department was under fire for stop-and-frisk. More cameras looked like a way to cut down on stopping people.

Planet Money · 2026-10-23 Permalink → Listen →
Planet Money Around 06:33 into the episode
Speaker 1

You know, at the time, I didn't think we were doing a good job in the NYPD.

Amanda Aronczyk

The NYPD was being heavily criticized for what was known as stop and frisk, where police officers were stopping mostly young people of color and searching them based on some vague notion of suspicion. So

Speaker 1

I thought, you know, a good way to cut down stops, just film everybody instead.

Amanda Aronczyk

That is what you thought?

Speaker 1

That was my thought, you know, non-physical policing.

Amanda Aronczyk

So, right, in the early days of more camera surveillance, that was seen as a fix for something. Yes,

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