NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A lawsuit from the New York Civil Liberties Union alleges the NYPD disproportionately searches Black and Latino drivers in what it calls “stop-and-frisk on wheels.”
According to the suit filed in Manhattan federal court, there’s been a dramatic increase in NYPD vehicle searches without probable cause.
The lawsuit pointed to data on more than 4,000 vehicle stops over a four-year period that shows more than 84% of drivers searched were Black and Latino, while fewer than 4% were white.
The NYCLU sued the city nearly 20 years ago over the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policies. A federal judge found the practice violated individuals’ constitutional rights and it was largely curtailed.
Now the lawsuit alleges the police department is using traffic stops instead of stop-and-frisk.
At a Thursday news conference, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Justin Cohen, said he and his friend were returning from a night at a casino when cops pulled them over in the Bronx and said he was speeding. He was ordered out of the car and searched.
“They found nothing illegal, nothing at all,” Cohen said. “And still the officers put me in handcuffs. They took us to the police station, and they threw us in a cage.”
When they released him, Cohen said he walked out of the precinct barefoot.
"This night was traumatizing, I was treated not like a human being, but like an animal," he said.
The ticket was dismissed.
Donna Lieberman, the NYCLU’s executive director, said such stops are happening to a large percentage of Black and Latino people.
“The NYCLU will not let the NYPD treat our city like a constitution-free zone,” Lieberman said.
Asked for comment, the NYPD referred to a City Council hearing from April 2025 in which the department's director of legislative affairs, Joshua Levin, said the NYPD sends more officers to areas with higher crime and complaints. “Any time you have more police officers in a certain area, as a result you are going to see more enforcement, you are going to see more car stops, you are going to see more searches,” Levin said.