Police found a weapon in about one out of six pedestrian stops last year and found a firearm in about one out of 13 stops, a Gothamist analysis of NYPD data shows. The majority of stops resulted in no arrest or summons.
This as pedestrian stops increased about 70% during Mayor Eric Adams’ and NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell’s first year at the helm, according to NYPD data. In 2021 there were fewer than 9,000 stops; in 2022, more than 15,000.
That’s still far below the number of pedestrian stops conducted during former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration, when, in 2011, pedestrian stops peaked at more than 685,000.
The numbers come from the NYPD’s annual publication of its stop, question and frisk database, which provides detailed information on each recorded pedestrian stop conducted by police in a given year — from the location of the stop to the number of minutes it lasted. The granular data exposes trends in the department’s use of the controversial tactic, which police claim is an essential law enforcement tool and advocates say is ineffective and targets people of color.
But Adams — who as a state senator helped to expose stop and frisk’s disproportionate impact on people of color — has defended the tactic as mayor, saying that it can help to get firearms off the streets if used lawfully.
“We want officers to use every tool that’s available within the law to go after those who are carrying guns,” he said at a press conference last July.
Under Adams’ and Sewell’s leadership, the share of stops that officers initiated on their own — as opposed to responding to a 911 call — has also increased, from about 23% of reported stops in 2021 to about 35% of reported stops in 2022. That means officers are being more proactive. Adams has made proactive policing a core tenet of his public safety platform – an approach he says improves public safety, and critics say leads to overly aggressive and racially biased law enforcement.
The…
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