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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Samah Sisay, Attorney at Center for Constitutional Rights, on NYPD's Use of Stop and Frisk
0:16:14
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4 min
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Samah Sisay, an attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, testified about ongoing issues with the NYPD's stop and frisk practices, highlighting racial disparities and unconstitutional stops despite court-ordered reforms. She emphasized the need for better documentation, supervision, and accountability in police encounters.
- Despite court-ordered changes, racial profiling persists with black and Latinx New Yorkers making up almost 90% of reported stops
- The number of reported stops increased in 2023 to the highest level since 2015, but underreporting remains a significant issue
- Specialized units, including neighborhood safety teams, continue to make a high number of unlawful stops with inadequate discipline for officers
Samah Sisay
0:16:14
Good morning.
0:16:15
Good morning, Sherry Salam, Public Advocate Williams, and members of the City Council.
0:16:20
My name is Samat Sisay, and I'm an attorney at the Center For Constitutional Rights, a member organization of Communities United For Police Reform.
0:16:28
Thank you for the opportunity today to testify regarding the NYPD's use of stop, question, and frisk, and other investigative techniques.
0:16:36
As chair Salaam alluded to, in February 1999, officers of the NYPD's now disbanded street crime unit killed Amadou Diallo during a stop and sparked outrage both within and beyond New York City.
0:16:51
Since mister Diallo's death, millions of New Yorkers have been subjected to humiliation, unlawful arrest, unlawful search, physical injury, and even death because of the department's stop and frisk practices.
0:17:04
The Center For Constitutional Rights has served with co counsel at the law firm of Beldock, LaVine, and Hoffman for over a decade as lead plaintiff's counsel in Floyd versus City of New York.
0:17:14
Before Floyd, we also filed the Daniels litigation, which brought to light the level of stops, that was happening within the city.
0:17:22
In August 2013, following a 9 week trial, a federal judge found the NYPD liable for a pattern and practice of racial profiling and unconstitutional stops.
0:17:33
The court's decision in Floyd, which predominantly dealt with street stops, along with resolution of 2 other federal lawsuits, Davis, which challenged the NYPD's practice of racially, discriminatory stops and arrests around NYCHA buildings, and Lagan, which challenged the NYPD's practice of unlawful trespass stops in around private apartment buildings, resulted in a federal court monitorship requiring various changes to the NYPD's practice of stopping civilians, changes which 11 years later the department has yet to fully implement.
0:18:07
As ordered by the court, the NYPD has engaged in trainings, revised stop forms, started using body worn cameras, and stops have gone down from the height of stop and frisk.
0:18:17
Yet the NYPD's continuing failure to ensure adequate supervision, adequate documentation for stops, and discipline for still prevalent racial profiling means they are not in compliance with the court order to engage in constitutional policing.
0:18:33
In fact, we have seen an increase in unconstitutional stops by the NYPD over the past few years, and racial disparities have worsened, with black and Latinx New Yorkers making up almost 90% of reported stops.
0:18:46
As the, Chair Salam alluded to, we also saw an increase of stops recently.
0:18:53
In 2013, or in 2023, we saw the highest number of reported stops since 2015, up to almost 17,000.
0:19:01
Yet we know that even this data cannot be trusted because the Federal Monitor has consistently found in public reports that the NYPD is not properly documenting and reporting on all stops that take place, with almost 30% of stops not being properly documented for.
0:19:16
There are also circumstances in which officers incorrectly label an encounter as low level, but upon review of body worn camera, it becomes evident that it was actually a stop that required reporting.
0:19:27
The level 1 and 2 encounter reporting requirements of the How Many Stops Act, which was originally a reform suggested by impacted New Yorkers during the Floyd joint remedial process, is one positive step towards taking tracking these encounters, but incident level data is needed for further analysis.
0:19:46
According to the Federal Monitor, the NYPD's specialized units make a majority of unlawful stops.
0:19:51
In 2022, only 77% of stops by the housing bureau officers at NYCHA properties were lawful.
0:19:58
The highly trained neighborhood safety teams, NSTs, Mayor Adams' revamped street crime unit, are also engaged in a high number of unlawful stops.
0:20:07
Even with officer underreporting, the data shows that over 24 24% of n NST stops reviewed by the monitor are unlawful.
0:20:16
Nearly everyone stopped is black and Latino.
0:20:18
I'm I'm gonna wrap up in a minute, and supervisors routinely approve bad stops by NST officers.
0:20:25
Lastly, officers are rarely disciplined for unconstitutional stop and frisk even when substantiated by the CCRV, as we heard public advocate Williams speak to.
0:20:33
In September, the court published a comprehensive report that highlights these severe issues.
0:20:38
For example, the current NYPD discipline metrics only recommends 3 day lost vacation time as a penalty for an illegal stop, frisk, or search of a person, yet even this level of discipline is a rarity, as supervisors and police commissioners regularly excuse illegal stop, frisk, in searches of New Yorkers.
0:20:55
Unconstitutional stop, question, and frisk are still a problem in New York City.
0:20:59
The NYPD continues to stop thousands of New Yorkers, racial disparities have worsened, and much more must be done to ensure police accountability and true community safety.
0:21:09
Thank you.