Nicholas K. Peart, a witness in a lawsuit brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights against racial profiling, has been stopped and frisked by New York City police officers at least five times. In this NYT op-ed, he shares his powerful personal account of NYPD's systematic stop-and-frisk tactics.

WHEN I was 14, my mother told me not to panic if a police officer stopped me. And she cautioned me to carry ID and never run away from the police or I could be shot. In the nine years since my mother gave me this advice, I have had numerous occasions to consider her wisdom.

Read the full piece here.