***Updated 3/19/19
A new report by the New York Civil Liberties Union reveals that East Flatbush's 67th Precinct and Brownsville's 73rd are more likely to stop innocent people than any other Brooklyn precinct.
The report, titled "Stop-and-Frisk in the de Blasio Era," shows that despite a drastic decline of reported NYPD stops since de Blasio took office in 2014, there has been no progress made on reducing racial disparities. Most of the people stopped were Black and Latino, and nearly all were innocent.
"The decline in the sheer number of stops is important progress, but it does not change the fact that black and Latino New Yorkers are still disproportionately targeted by stop-and-frisk policing," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU.
Between 2014 and 2017, while young black and Latino males between the ages of 14 and 24 accounted for only five percent of the city's population, they made up 38 percent of reported stops. In this four-year period, stops of Black and Latino people accounted for more than half of all stops in 73 out of 77 precincts.
During that same period, the NYPD used force on over 21,000 Black and Latino people and over 2,200 White people.
Though frisks are only supposed to be conducted when an officer reasonably suspects the person has a weapon that poses a threat, 66 percent of reported stops led to frisks, of which over 93 percent resulted in no weapon being found. Black and Latino people were more likely to be frisked than Whites and, among those frisked, were less likely to be found with a weapon.
With 2,011 reported between 2014 to 2017, East Flatbush's 67th Precinct was one of five in New York City with the highest number of stop-and-frisks, according to Patch. The Bronx' 44th and 46th Precincts conducted the most stop-and-frisks out of all 77 city precincts.
"We remain concerned that the number of actual stops is far larger because officers are failing to document many stops," said Christopher Dunn, legal director at the NYCLU and co-author of the report. "In addition, our report shows that racial disparities continue to be a stubborn problem, that most stops are of innocent people, and that the police routinely and improperly are frisking New Yorkers."
To read the full report, go here.
***Correction: In a previous version we falsely stated that the 69th Precinct in East Flatbush was one of five in New York City with the highest stop-and-frisk rates. The 69th Precinct is located in Canarsie and not the precinct with the highest rates. It is East Flatbush's 67th District. The story has since been updated to reflect the correction. --Updated 3/19/19
