The Independent Monitor of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) released a report that identifies several concerning failures in the accountability process when it comes to stop and frisk.

According to the report, the NYPD rarely disciplines officers who commit violations in their stops despite a court-mandated reform process. Between 2017 and 2019, only 10% of officers received penalty days after a Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) had substantiated an illegal stop, question, frisk, or search.

“Allowing officers who have violated the rights of New Yorkers to resume policing our communities consequence-free is a grave disservice to the individuals — primarily New Yorkers of color — they’ve harmed,” said Phil Desgranges, Attorney-in-Charge of Criminal Law Reform at The Legal Aid Society. “The NYPD’s continued noncompliance with these court orders proves the Department prefers to sweep instances of misconduct under the rug rather than address the culture of impunity that continues to allow innocent civilians to be unfairly harassed and harmed.”

“New Yorkers deserve better, and NYPD officers must be held to account when they have been found to have committed misconduct,” he continued. “The NYPD discipline system, and the independent oversight agencies involved in the process, must be significantly strengthened. It is clear that the NYPD cannot be trusted to police itself.”

The Legal Aid Society and the Legal Defense Fund, along with Selendy Gay PLLC, represent a class of plaintiffs who sued the NYPD for abusive stop and frisk and trespass arrests in one of the three consolidated cases that led to the appointment of the NYPD Monitor and the publication of this report.

For more information on the discipline report, including key findings and recommendations, download a summary created by the attorneys who worked on the lawsuit.

The Court has invited public comment on the Discipline Report by December 25, 2024. All comments will be posted publicly on the NYPD Monitor’s website. You can submit your comments here.

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