NYC lawmakers set to require NYPD to report low-level stops

A bill that would require the NYPD to report “low-level” police encounters cleared a major hurdle Monday, when City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams threw her support behind the measure.

The How Many Stops Act, which city records show has 32 co-sponsors, is expected to pass in the Council’s last meeting of this year on Dec. 20, according to Councilmember Alexa Avilés. Both Avilés and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams introduced the legislation in July.

The NYPD is already required to document stop-and-frisk reports and arrests, which legally require officers to have “reasonable suspicion” or “probable cause” that someone is committing, has committed or is about to commit a crime, according to the NYPD training guide.

But the How Many Stops Act governs lower level stops — called “level one” or “level two” stops — which are police encounters where the subject is legally free to leave, including when police stop someone to ask where they are going or for their I.D. Some New Yorkers said these seemingly-innocuous stops can have catastrophic consequences, escalating to violence or unlawful arrests.

Avilés said requiring police to report low-level stops would give lawmakers crucial information about who is being stopped, where and how often.

“We’re trying to understand the scale and scope of policing in New York City,” she said.

The bill would require the NYPD to post the data on its website every quarter. Another section of the bill package introduced by Councilmember Crystal Hudson would require police to report when someone declines to give an officer consent to search them.

Police stops under Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer, are on the rise, according to police data. Adams brought back the department’s controversial Neighborhood Safety Teams – teams of officers tasked with keeping illegal guns off the streets.

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio disbanded those units in 2020 in response to findings that they accounted for a…