New York ( CNN ) -- Rather than celebrating Father 's Day on Sunday afternoon , Horace Russell marched with several thousand people to take a stand against the New York Police Department 's controversial `` stop and frisk '' policy . `` I feel it every single day , practically , '' said Russell , who works as a teacher in the Bronx . `` I 've been pulled over and pushed against fences , frisked , but have never been arrested . '' Russell 's story sounded familiar to many of Sunday 's marchers , who want to see action from Mayor Michael Bloomberg , and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly -- either by abolishing or reforming stop-and-frisk . Last year , nearly 685,000 people were stopped by officers in cases that ended with no meaningful charge , according to police department statistics . Of these , 87 % were African-American or Latino , the police department says . `` They profile me because I 'm a Rastafarian and I have dreadlocks , so therefore I get pulled over just for my looks , '' said Russell . Sunday 's silent march started at 110th Street and headed down Fifth Avenue , ending at 78th Street after passing Bloomberg 's townhouse on 79th Street . `` I do n't know a single black or Latino male who does n't say he is basically afraid to be out on the streets , '' said the Rev . Stephen Phelps , a senior minister at the Riverside Church near West Harlem . He was one of a diverse group of faith leaders , and representatives of some 300 organizations , brought together by the Rev . Al Sharpton 's National Action Network . On Sunday morning , speaking at a Christian Cultural Center , Mayor Bloomberg attempted to preempt the demonstration 's inevitable message : `` I understand why some people want us to stop making stops , '' he said . `` Innocent people who are stopped can be treated disrespectfully . That is not acceptable ... Police Commissioner Kelly and I both believe we can do a better job in this area -- and he 's instituted a number of reforms to do that . `` We believe that when it comes to making stops -- to borrow a phrase from President Clinton -- the practice should be mended , not ended . '' However , in official circles , there appears to be strong divergence in opinion . `` It 's racial profiling of people who are almost all innocent of any wrongdoing , '' said New York City Comptroller John Liu , who was advocating abolition at the protest march . He said he would prefer `` strategies of focused deterrents that we have seen in Atlanta , Chicago and Boston that actually reduce crime . '' Jumaane Williams , a New York city councilman from Brooklyn , said Bloomberg and Kelly `` have shown no leadership '' on the stop-and-frisk issue . `` Inherent in any police officer 's ability to do their job is their ability to stop somebody they feel is reasonably suspicious . The current policy is not that -- it 's stopping people because they are black or brown . '' Williams added , `` Whether you say end it or reform it , we have to end the way that policy currently exists . ''
Marchers silently protested New York City `` stop and frisk '' policy . The a Christian Cultural Center says last year nearly one were stopped in cases that did n't end in charges . The police department says 87 % were African-American or Russell . `` The practice should be mended , not ended , '' says the mayor .