Apparently, the camera adds 10 pounds and almost 10,000 underreported stop-and-frisks by the NYPD last year. A recently published review of body-worn camera footage found the frequent mislabeling of Level 3 encounters — better known as Terry stops or stop-and-frisks — as Level 1 and Level 2 encounters, which do not require stop reports.
“Accurate documentation is foundational,” wrote the monitor. “Without it, neither the NYPD nor the Court can determine whether constitutional policing requirements are being met. To guard against officers ‘gaming’ the system by mislabeling stops, the NYPD’s own auditing methods must assess how many stops labeled Level 1 and Level 2 encounters should have been labeled Level 3 Terry stops.”
The audit findings stem from the city losing a class action lawsuit against the NYPD over unconstitutional stop-and-frisk practices more than a decade ago. Named after lead plaintiff David Floyd, the Floyd litigation went through a nine-week trial and featured testimony from many nonwhite New Yorkers, including then-state senator Eric Adams. A judge ultimately found the city engaged in racial profiling against Black and Brown New Yorkers, which violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. The ruling also found the city violated the Fourth Amendment, a broader protection against unreasonable searches.
An independent monitor, who authored this report, was subsequently appointed by the court. Additionally, the case mandates the NYPD’s bookkeeping on stop-and-frisk numbers. But the audit’s findings undermine the data’s validity and allow undocumented stops to “evade supervisory review and judicial oversight.”
“The NYPD’s systematic failure to document stops, frisks, and searches is not an oversight,” said attorney Jonathan Moore, who represented the Floyd class litigants. “It reflects a deliberate indifference to the constitutional rights of the residents of this city. The court needs to take aggressive action to remedy this deliberate neglect on the part of the NYPD.”
However, the report mentions an improving compliance rate and ongoing communication on the issue between the NYPD and the monitor. A police spokesperson pointed to a 20% decline in underreporting in the fourth quarter of 2025. The monitor directed the NYPD to finalize an action plan within 45 days of the audit’s release.
“The NYPD has made tremendous progress in connection with the monitorship, with stops decreasing by more than 90%. There is still more work to do, and the department is working closely with the monitor to address those issues.”
