The NYPD has at least one friend on the panel of law professors tapped to help reform city cops’ use of stop-and-frisk.
Alafair Burke, a former prosecutor in Oregon who teaches at Hofstra University, said Thursday that she supports the law that lets police stop and frisk suspects and has even trained cops in the use of the tactic.
“Police have the right to stop and frisk people if they have reasonable suspicion. That’s the law, and I’m a strong supporter of that law,” she told The Post, referring to the US Supreme Court’s 1968 ruling in Terry v. Ohio that deemed stop-and-frisks legal.
“It’s been the law for a long time, and I’ve spent a lot of time teaching police about it,” said Burke, 43, a Florida native who grew up in Kansas and has taught at Fordham Law School.
The East Village resident said she hopes her experience as a prosecutor will make her an effective member of the 13-person Academic Advisory Council appointed by federal Judge Shira Scheindlin.
While Burke has never worked with the NYPD, she has sources in the department who help her with her crime novels.