NYPD Interrogated Record Number of Innocent New Yorkers in 2009, New Stop-and-Frisk Numbers Show

The NYPD stopped and interrogated at least 505,000 completely innocent New Yorkers in 2009, the most ever since the Department began collecting data on its troubling stop-and-frisk program. The new figures, released by the NYPD this week, represent a nearly 9 percent increase over 2008, when police officers stopped 465,413 innocent people. Nearly 9 out of 10 of those stopped and questioned by police last year were neither arrested nor issued a summons. And 9 out of 10 were black or Latino.

2 Weeks After Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Police in NYC Schools, Another Child Arrested for Desk Doodling

The New York Civil Liberties Union today expressed outrage over the treatment of a 12-year-old girl who was handcuffed and hauled to the local police precinct where she was detained by the NYPD for hours for doodling her name on her desk in erasable marker. News of the arrest comes on the heels of a federal class action lawsuit the NYCLU filed challenging the NYPD’s practice of wrongfully arresting and using excessive force against children in New York City schools.

Federal Court Orders Transit Authority to Open Secret Court to NYCLU and Public

The New York Civil Liberties Union has won a federal lawsuit challenging secrecy in the hearing process for people accused by police officers of offenses on New York City’s subways and buses. In a decision released today, a federal judge ruled that the secret, closed-door hearings violate the First Amendment and barred further enforcement of New York City Transit Authority’s court access policy.

NYCLU Calls on NYC to Monitor Police Misconduct Lawsuits

At a City Council hearing today, the New York Civil Liberties Union expressed support for a bill that would require the city to publicly report on civil lawsuits brought against the NYPD, but it emphasized that stronger measures are needed to effectively monitor lawsuits alleging police misconduct. In the past decade, the city has spent nearly $500 million resolving lawsuits alleging police misconduct. In 2008 alone, the city spent $35.2 million on 2,863 lawsuits alleging police misconduct.

Policy Relaxing Standards for Use of DNA in Crime Investigations Will Lead to Law-Enforcement Abuses and Civil Rights Violations

In a split vote, 7-4, New York State’s Commission on Forensic Sciences approved a policy authorizing law-enforcement to investigate the family members of an individual whose DNA does not precisely match crime scene evidence. The scientific rationale is that a “partial match” between a sample of DNA from a crime scene and the DNA of someone in the state’s DNA databank may implicate a blood relative of that individual.

NYPD on Track to Interrogate Record Number of Innocent New Yorkers in 2009, New Stop-and-Frisk Numbers Show

The NYPD is on track to stop and interrogate a record number of totally innocent New Yorkers in 2009, according to police reports obtained and analyzed by the New York Civil Liberties Union this week. During the first nine months of 2009, police made more than 404,000 stops of completely innocent New Yorkers – the overwhelming majority of whom were black and Latino. If stops continue at this pace, 535,000 completely innocent New Yorkers will suffer through street interrogations in 2009 – the most ever since the Department began collecting data on its troubling stop-and-frisk program.

NYCLU Sues NYPD for Information about Police Shootings

In an effort to shed more light on the NYPD’s use of deadly force against civilians, the New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the Department’s refusal to disclose basic facts about individual police shootings.

NYCLU to Teach Youth about their Rights with Police in Schools During ‘Week of Action’

Each day next week, the New York Civil Liberties Union and its partners in the Student Safety Coalition will visit public high schools throughout New York City to inform students of their rights when confronted by NYPD personnel at school. The Week of Action, an annual event, targets schools in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx that have permanent metal detectors, high suspension rates and a heavy police presence.

NYCLU, Rev. Al Sharpton and Children’s Defense Fund-NY Call for Reform in New York’s Juvenile Justice System

After a damning investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) into four of New York State’s juvenile prisons, the New York Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network, and the Children’s Defense Fund-NY today gathered on the steps of City Hall to demand reforms to end the culture of neglect and abuse at these facilities.

Record Number of Innocent New Yorkers Stopped, Interrogated by NYPD During First Half of Year

The NYPD stopped and interrogated more innocent people during the first six months of 2009 than during any six-month period since the Department began collecting data on its troubling stop-and-frisk program. Police made more than 273,000 stops of completely innocent New Yorkers – the overwhelming majority of whom were black and Latino. Though these innocent people did nothing wrong, their names and home addresses are now stored in an NYPD database.