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NYPD Community Response Team Found to be Engaging in Unlawful Stops and Searches

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

A recent report by a federal monitor appointed by a federal court has found that the NYPD's Community Response Team (CRT) has been stopping and searching New Yorkers, almost all of them Black and Hispanic men, in an unjust manner. This finding echoes a recent ProPublica investigation that revealed the unit, championed by Mayor Eric Adams, has been plagued by abuses. The CRT, initially created to address quality-of-life issues, has evolved into a unit engaged in unconstitutional stops, searches, and frisks.

Key Takeaways:

  • The federal monitor found that 41% of stops, searches, and frisks by CRT officers were unlawful, a far higher percentage than with other NYPD units.
  • The CRT officers often failed to document such stops, and even when they did, there was a "lack of meaningful review" by supervisors.
  • The federal monitor found that "97% of the individuals stopped, frisked, and searched were Black or Hispanic men."
  • The NYPD had not been straightforward about the CRT with the monitor itself, initially telling the monitor that the CRT was a "pilot program" that had already ended, only to later learn that the team was expanding.
  • Recent ProPublica investigation detailed a wide range of troubling behavior by CRT officers, including a commander who punched a driver, another commander who shoved a pedestrian into a car window, and a third officer who drove into a motorbiker, ultimately killing him.
  • Over the past two years, New Yorkers have filed at least 200 complaints alleging improper use of force by CRT members, according to Civilian Complaint Review Board records.

Statistics:

  • 41% of stops, searches, and frisks by CRT officers were unlawful.
  • 97% of the individuals stopped, frisked, and searched by CRT officers were Black or Hispanic men.
  • According to Civilian Complaint Review Board records, at least 200 complaints were filed against CRT members over the past two years.

Sources:

  • https://www.nypdmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/963-Twenty-Fifth-Report-of-the-Independent-Monitor.pdf
  • https://www.propublica.org/article/eric-adams-nypd-community-response-team-police-nyc-misconduct-transparency
  • https://www.instagram.com/p/CuQ1thnMJJy/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=a0de6eaf-c574-4c60-bb2b-cce35a41005b&img_index=2

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