NYPD Civilian Stops Racially Worse Under Mayor Adams: Report

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A new report has found that the New York Police Department has committed thousands of pedestrian stops under Mayor Eric Adams – with only 5% of those stopped being white.

According to a report by the New York Civil Liberties Union, since Adams began his tenure as mayor, the NYPD’s renewed policy of stopping people is at its highest point since 2015 and trending upwards. While fewer people are being detained as a result of these stops, there is a starker racial disparity found in the breakdown of those stopped with white people only making up 5% of that group overall.

The report shows that police stopped 8,502 people in the first half of 2023, a low number in comparison to the 700,000 that were registered during the height of the infamous “stop-and-frisk” era under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The policy was effectively abandoned once former Mayor Bill de Blasio was in office due to federal pressure. But a closer look does note some glaring issues, such as those found on the forms NYPD officers are required to fill out for every stop. 92% of those stops were apparently because someone “fit a relevant description” or “other”. The report also noted that precincts in The Bronx, Harlem along with Midtown Manhattan and the central and eastern areas of Brooklyn had the highest stop rates this year so far.

An NYPD spokesperson issued a statement that cited that officers make stops “with increasing levels of precision” based on their observations and that they carry out all of their duties “without consideration of race or ethnicity”. This conflicts with a New York Daily News article in June that obtained quotes from officers in five different commands that they were being urged to issue low-level summonses, potentially in line with Adams’ consistent strategy of using pedestrian stops for public safety.

“The good news is there are definitely fewer [stops] happening, but the alarming thing is that the racial disparities and the apparent racial profiling continues,” said NYCLU legal director Chris Dunn. “Many more Black and Latino people are being stopped without any justification whatsoever.” He estimates that NYPD officers aren’t documenting any civilian stops that don’t result in a summons or arrest. 

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