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'Stop-and-frisk on wheels': NYPD targeted Black and Latino drivers for searches, lawsuit claims
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Jan 29, 2026
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José A. Alvarado Jr. / Gothamist
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Jan 29, 2026
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Motor vehicle searches by the NYPD surged under Mayor Eric Adams, overwhelmingly targeting Black and Latino drivers and typically without a legally justifiable basis for the enforcement, according to a new lawsuit.
NYPD vehicle searches more than doubled in the first three years of Adams’ term, rising from 13,340 in 2022 to 28,416 in 2024, according to the claim. Black and Latino drivers made up 84% of the searches from 2022 through September 2025, and white motorists less than 4%. Only a small percentage of the searches resulted in the filing of any charges.
Daniel Lambright, senior counsel for criminal justice litigation at NYCLU, one of the groups that brought the suit, said the disparities amounted to “stop and frisk on wheels” — a reference to the NYPD’s discredited practice of stopping, frisking and questioning mostly Black and Latino pedestrians without the required legal justification, which peaked during Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s three terms from 2002 to 2013.
“Far too many Black and Latino drivers in New York City are treated like criminals when their vehicles are searched during what should be routine traffic stops, merely because of the color of their skin,” Lambright said in a statement. “We call upon Mayor Mamdani to end this racist and shameful NYPD practice. The NYPD cannot treat our city like a constitution-free zone where Black and brown New Yorkers’ rights don’t matter.”
When asked for comment on the lawsuit, an NYPD spokesperson referred Gothamist to police officials’ remarks during a City Council hearing last year in which they were questioned about the racial disparities in vehicle searches. Joshua Levin, the NYPD director of legislative affairs, said the agency sends more officers to areas of the city with a high number of crimes and resident complaints, resulting in more stops.
“Any time you have more police officers in a certain area, as a result you are going to see more enforcement,” he said. “You are going to see more car stops, you are going to see more searches.”
The lawsuit, which alleges civil rights violations, was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Adams, a former NYPD police captain, was mayor from 2022 through 2025.
It was brought by NYCLU, the Bronx Defenders, and Milbank LLP on behalf of the NAACP New York State Conference and two Black New Yorkers whose vehicles were searched by the NYPD. It demands an end to the allegedly unlawful conduct, for the NYPD to establish “appropriate standards,” and seeks money damages and attorney fees for the plaintiffs.
The disparities in searches cited in the complaint persisted across the city, according to an analysis in the suit, with police searching Black and Latino drivers at higher rates across precincts. Police conducted vehicle searches at even higher rates in Black and Latino neighborhoods, even when controlling for crimes.
The NYPD searched the vehicle of one of the plaintiffs, Christopher Oliver, four times in the past two years, according to the complaint. In each case, Oliver did not consent to the search, and officers didn't issue him a ticket or find any weapons or contraband.
While the purported reason for the increase in vehicle searches was to confiscate illegal firearms, according to the lawsuit, such findings are rare. More than 96% of searches don't result in an arrest for criminal possession of a weapon, according to the lawsuit.
Nearly 700,000 stops were made during stop and frisk's peak in 2011, and the vast majority of them targeted Black and Latino New Yorkers, ostensibly to check for illegal guns. In a 2013 ruling, a federal judge concluded the city’s use of stop and frisk had been unconstitutional and amounted to racial profiling.
Judge Shira A. Scheindlin noted in her ruling that no weapons were found in 91% of the nearly 4.5 million stops between 2004 and mid-2012, and just 6% of the stops resulted in an arrest.
“Stop and frisk has not disappeared,” Donna Lieberman, the executive director of NYCLU said at a press conference on Thursday. “It’s simply shifted.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Tagged
Race And Justice Unit
eric adams
nypd
public safety
Arya Sundaram
Arya is a reporter covering race and justice. Got a tip? Email: [email protected] or reach Arya on Signal at 512-650-8767.
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