New York City Mayor Eric Adams revamped the NYPD Neighborhood Safety Teams to keep illegal guns off the streets, but new reports show numerous unjustified stops.
Reports from a federal monitor show the controversial “stop-and-frisk” teams are making some unlawful stops targeting Black and Hispanic people, finding 24% of the stops were unconstitutional, the NY Daily News reports. Mylan Denerstein, the court-appointed monitor, examined the reports and called the results “disappointing.”
The units, riding in unmarked cars and wearing security-like uniforms, seem to be the least compliant overall of officers, with department officials constantly overlooking their flaws. “Too many people are stopped, frisked, and searched unlawfully,” Denerstein said. “At the precinct level, sergeants, lieutenants, and commanding officers fail to identify and correct the unconstitutional policing.”
The task force was disbanded by former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio but
reinstated after Adams took office last year. Adams’ first initiative was to bring back undercover, plain-clothed cops, similar to the ones involved in the tragic case of Eric Garner in 2014. However, not wanting repeated offenses, Adams required the teams to have constitutional policing training, have a modified uniform, and wear body cameras.Neighborhood Safety Teams operate in 34 areas that account for 80% of the city’s violent crime rate,
largely in communities of color. According to Fox News, 97% of the people stopped are Black or Hispanic.A spokesperson from Adams’ office, Fabien Levy, says the mayor finds the monitor’s methods concerning and questions the findings since news outlets were the ones who reported it to them. He claims shootings have declined since the task force was reinstated, and the units are trained to “protect their civil liberties as well.” “Any unconstitutional stop is unacceptable, and we will strive to do better for New Yorkers every day,” Levy added.
NYPD has been under watch for its treatment of Black and brown people for years. Ten years ago, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that NYPD violated the civil rights of Black and Hispanic New Yorkers with stop and frisk, citing it was a form of indirect racial profiling.