The NYPD’s quarterly reports on its stop-and-frisk activity confirm what many in communities of color across the city have long known: The police are stopping hundreds of thousands of law abiding New Yorkers every year.

According to the most recent data, released May 5, the NYPD recorded a record number of stop-and-frisk encounters during the first three months of 2008:

• The NYPD stopped, questioned and/or frisked 145,098 people, up from 134,029 stops over the same quarter in 2007 -- an 8 percent increase. The next highest tally of stops for a single quarter was 136,851 during the first three months of 2006.
• Of those stopped, 87 percent were black or Latino.
• About 13 percent of the stops lead to a summons or arrest. The overwhelming majority of New Yorkers questioned and frisked by the NYPD were behaving lawfully.
• The NYPD is on track to stop and frisk about 600,000 New Yorkers in 2008 – an increase from 97,296 in 2002.

In 2007:

• The NYPD stopped, questioned and/or frisked 468,932 people.
• Of those stopped, 85 percent were black or Latino.
• Only 10 percent of 2007 stops led to summonses or arrests.

In 2006:

• The NYPD stopped, questioned and/or frisked more than 508,540 people, an increase from just 97,296 in 2002.
• 86.4 percent of those stopped were black or Latino.
• Only 10 percent of 2006 stops led to summonses or arrests. The overwhelming majority of New Yorkers questioned and frisked by the NYPD were engaged in no criminal wrongdoing.

Between 2006 and 2007:

• Stops of whites, who number about 3.6 million according to recent census estimates, amounted to only 2.6 percent of the white population. By contrast, stops of blacks, who number about 2.2 million people, represented 21.1 percent of the entire black population.
• As compared to a 1999 study by then Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, which reported that police stopped nine people for each arrest they made, the most recent figures show that about twice as many people now are being stopped for each arrest.
• 21.5 blacks are stopped for each arrest as opposed to only 18.2 whites stopped for each arrest

The NYPD stop-and-frisk data raises serious concerns over racial profiling, illegal stops and privacy rights.

On this page you will find helpful resources on the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices, their implications for all New Yorkers and how you can take action.

 

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New York Times op-chart: On Nov. 9, 2007, the NYPD quietly released its latest figures about the number and race of New Yorkers whom police officers stopped and frisked, giving the public access to data from January 1, 2006, to September 30, 2007. An analysis of these figures shows that racial profiling continues in the city, and that blacks are bearing the overwhelming brunt of police stops.

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