PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Karina Tefft, Attorney, Cop Accountability Project at Legal Aid Society on NYPD's Stop and Frisk Practices
3:33:54
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150 sec
Karina Tefft, an attorney from the Legal Aid Society's COP Accountability Project, testified about ongoing issues with NYPD's stop and frisk practices, highlighting racial disparities and lack of accountability. She emphasized that despite federal court findings of unconstitutionality, the NYPD continues to engage in unlawful stops and racial profiling.
- Over 30% of documented frisks and searches in the first half of 2023 were found to be unconstitutional.
- Racial disparities persist, with over 80% of people stopped each year being Black and Hispanic.
- The NYPD's disciplinary system fails to hold officers accountable for stop and frisk related misconduct, largely due to the police commissioner's final authority over discipline.
Karina Tefft
3:33:54
Good afternoon, Chair Salam.
3:33:55
My name is Corina Teff, and I'm an attorney at the Legal Aid Society's COP Accountability Project.
3:34:00
At the Legal Aid Society, we see the profound harms of NYPD's persistent racist tactics, including the gang database and unlawful stops and frisks.
3:34:08
I'm one of the many lawyers involved in the Floyd, Davis, and Ligon lawsuits in which a federal court found that NYPD's use of stop and frisk and racial profiling is unconstitutional and placed NYPD under a federal court monitorship.
3:34:21
Over a decade has passed since that finding, and still the NYPD is not and has never been in compliance with the constitution.
3:34:29
Both unlawful stops and the sheer volume of stops have been trending up since 2021.
3:34:35
In the first half of twenty twenty three, over 30% of documented frisks and searches were unconstitutional.
3:34:41
And bad as they are, these numbers don't account for the significant number of stops that NYPD never reports.
3:34:47
The monitor's audits of officer body worn camera footage showed that in 2023, only 59% of stops requiring stop reports were documented.
3:34:55
Black and brown New Yorkers bear the brunt of these unconstitutional stops.
3:34:59
And while the number of stops have declined between 2013 and 2022, racial disparities remain the same.
3:35:06
Over 80% of people stopped each year were black and Hispanic, and today that rate is even higher, as you have pointed out, chair Salom.
3:35:14
Central to these persistent constitutional violations is NYPD's failure to discipline officers for engaging in unlawful stops, frisks, and racial profiling.
3:35:23
These issues were examined in detail in a recently published court ordered report on the NYPD's disciplinary system.
3:35:29
The report found that officers rarely, if ever, receive any discipline for stop and frisk related misconduct even when the civilian complaint review board finds that the officer committed the misconduct.
3:35:40
The report attributes this disturbing lack of accountability to many factors.
3:35:44
But in our view, the primary barrier to accountability is the police commissioner's final authority over discipline, which often means that officers get no discipline at all.
3:35:53
You may know the quote, culture eats strategy for breakfast.
3:35:57
In this case, culture eats policy for breakfast.
3:36:00
The law is rendered meaningless as long as the police commissioner continues to facilitate NYPD's culture of impunity by refusing to discipline officers, even when confronted with clear evidence of misconduct.
3:36:11
Without fundamental structural changes to NYPD's discipline system, that culture simply will not change.
3:36:17
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and I'll direct you to legal aid's forthcoming written testimony that expounds on these issues in greater detail.
