New NYCLU Analysis Shows Skyrocketing, Racially-Biased NYPD Vehicle Stops and Searches

Vehicle searches increased by 83% in 2024. 90% of vehicle stop arrests were of Black and Latino New Yorkers  

NEW YORK CITY – Today, the New York Civil Liberties Union published an analysis of the New York Police Department’s most recent traffic stops data, which covers January 2023 through December 2024. The analysis shows a surge in traffic stops, arrests, vehicle searches and seizures, and use-of-force incidents in 2024, which overwhelmingly target Black and Brown drivers. You can view the data and NYCLU’s analysis here.  

“The massive increase in traffic stops, arrests, and vehicle searches are part of the Adams administration’s effort to double down on racist broken windows policing,” said Daniel Lambright, special counsel for criminal justice litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “Like stop-and-frisk, the NYPD uses traffic stops as a tool to harass and humiliate Black and Brown men and these stops often spiral into police brutality. We will continue to analyze this data so that New Yorkers can have an informed discussion on the harms of vehicle stops and non-police alternatives to routine traffic enforcement.” 

Key findings include:   

• The NYPD made 855,750 traffic stops in 2024, a 25 percent increase from 2023. 

• NYPD vehicle searches increased by 83 percent, and seizures increased by 70 percent.  

• Arrests and use-of-force resulting from traffic stops increased by more than 50 percent from 2023 to 2024.  

• Approximately 87 percent of drivers subject to use-of-force were Black or Latino. 

• Nearly 90 percent of people arrested during a traffic stop were Black or Latino. 

• Black and Latino drivers were respectively ten and six times more likely to be searched than white drivers.  

Following New York City Council legislation in 2021 and three NYCLU lawsuits in March, July, and October 2023, the NYPD has been compelled to timely publish quarterly summary reports on vehicle stops, including incident-level and disaggregated data. The data includes all vehicle stops made by the NYPD and the resulting action taken, including tickets, arrests, and vehicle searches. The data are broken down by race, gender, age, and precinct where the vehicle stop took place. 

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