The NYPD continues to violate a court order by underreporting the rate that cops use controversial stop-and-frisk practices, a federal monitor says.
In a 169-page status report filed Friday in Manhattan federal court, Mylan Denerstein praised the NYPD for making “significant strides in meeting the court’s requirements,” including its use of body worn camera by cops to make legal stops and searches.
However, Denerstein also said “there is still additional work that needs to be done” – adding “the issue of underreporting of stops remains a concern and limits the extent” that progress can be properly judged off stats provided by the NYPD.
The report was Denerstein’s first since replacing longtime monitor Peter Zimroth, who died last November. It was also the first submitted since Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell took office in January.
In 2013, then-Manhattan federal Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk practices were unconstitutional, saying the cop searches targeted people of color.
The landmark decision in the 2008 class-action lawsuit — a huge blow to ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s crime-fighting legacy — included hiring Zimroth, a private lawyer and former Manhattan prosecutor, as monitor.
Zimroth had previously raised similar concerns about underreporting stops.
“Just like prior reports, this monitor report confirms that widespread underreporting persists, possibly masking significant, ongoing racial disparity in the use of stop-and-frisk on black and brown New Yorkers by the NYPD,” said lawyer Omar Farah of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents the plaintiffs in the case.
Sewell issued a statement saying the NYPD and other parties “have come a long way together and accomplished a great deal but there is still work to be done and we will continue the positive momentum toward full compliance.”
The NYPD has claimed underreporting occurs because of human error and would be addressed by future audits.