The NYPD’s Neighborhood Safety Teams are heavily engaging in illegal stop-and-frisk tactics and overwhelmingly targeting Black and Hispanic New Yorkers, according to a new report from the federal monitor overseeing the department.
The Neighborhood Safety Teams (NST), formed last year by Mayor Eric Adams to combat gun crime, only had “reasonable suspicion” for 69% of the stops they initiated and 73% of the frisks, and a legal basis for only 63% of their searches, according to the report released Monday by federal monitor Mylan Denerstein. The units are making unlawful stops at a 9% higher clip than the department overall in 2020, the monitor notes.