The NYPD subjects Black and Latino drivers to suspicionless vehicle searches at racially disparate levels similar to those at the height of Stop & Frisk 

New York City, NY – Today, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), The Bronx Defenders and Milbank LLP filed a lawsuit on behalf of the NAACP New York State Conference and two Black New Yorkers against the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for systematically targeting tens of thousands of Black and Latino drivers with unconstitutional vehicle searches. Black and Latino drivers are nearly ten times and six times more likely to have their cars searched by the NYPD than white drivers in New York City. 

Following three NYCLU lawsuits in March, July, and October 2023 to obtain information on the NYPD’s vehicle stop practices, the NYCLU was able to reveal extreme racial disparities in the Department’s policing of Black and Latino drivers that were previously unknown to the public.  

According to the most recent NYCLU analysis:

– The NYPD made 28,416 traffic searches in 2024, a nearly 83 percent increase from 2023. 

– Over 84 percent of vehicle searches from 2022 until September 2025 were of Black or Latino drivers, while white drivers made up less than 4 percent of vehicle searches. 

– In all 78 precincts, Black and Latino drivers were more likely to be searched after being stopped. 

– The most searches occurred in Black and Latino neighborhoods. For example, the three precincts with the highest counts of vehicle searches are: the 75th Precinct where 83 percent of residents are Black or Latino, the 113th Precinct where 83 percent of residents are Black or Latino, and the 44th Precinct where 94 percent of residents are Black or Latino. 

– The three precincts with the highest search rates are: the 113th Precinct where 83 percent of residents are Black or Latino, the 73rd Precinct where 89 percent of residents are Black or Latino, and the 46th Precinct where 94 percent of residents are Black or Latino.

– These vehicle searches almost never result in the recovery of a weapon. 

 “Far too many Black and Latino drivers in New York City are treated like criminals when their vehicles are searched during what should be routine traffic stops, merely because of the color of their skin. The NYPD’s targeting of Black and Latino drivers with baseless vehicle searches is nothing more than stop-and-frisk on wheels, and it must come to an end,” said Daniel Lambright, Senior Counsel for Criminal Justice Litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “We call upon Mayor Mamdani to end this racist and shameful NYPD practice. The NYPD cannot treat our city like a constitution-free zone where Black and Brown New Yorkers’ rights don’t matter.”   

The lawsuit alleges that the NYPD’s Vehicle Search Policy targets Black and Latino drivers for vehicle searches without reasonable suspicion or probable cause and thus violates the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as related state and local laws. The complaint details a pattern of NYPD officers stopping Black and Latino drivers for alleged minor traffic violations and then illegally searching their vehicles—purportedly for weapons and contraband—without probable cause or reasonable suspicion.  

Further, many unlawful vehicle searches are perpetrated with the involvement of notoriously violent “anti-crime” units like the Neighborhood Safety Teams—a unit that the court-appointed NYPD Stop and-Frisk Monitor has found engages in a high amount of unlawful stops. While these unlawful searches purportedly seek to recover guns, they ultimately fail. Over 96 percent of vehicle searches conducted by the NYPD between January 1, 2022 and September 30, 2025 did not turn up any weapons. 

Justin Cohen, one of the plaintiffs, is a 35-year-old Black man who was stopped by the NYPD in 2023 for allegedly speeding while driving in the Bronx late one night with his friend. Justin was frisked and the car he was driving was searched without probable cause or reasonable suspicion. Despite not finding anything illegal in the car, the officers seized the vehicle and arrested Justin. After being released from custody, over an hour after he was initially pulled over, Justin was given a speeding ticket that was ultimately dismissed. The New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), which is investigating the incident, concluded that the search of the vehicle was unlawful and racially biased.  

“My ordeal at the hands of the NYPD adds to a long list of horrific stories about driving while Black and racial profiling,” said plaintiff Justin Cohen. “NYPD officers pulled me over in the middle of the night, subjected my friends and me to a humiliating search, and took my car away for no other reason than the color of my skin. This traumatizing experience has left a lasting impact on me. Now, anytime I get behind the wheel and see a police car, I feel my stomach drop. With this lawsuit, I want to help stop this from happening to anyone else.”  

Christopher Oliver, another plaintiff, is a Black man who lives in New York City and who has been subjected to illegal vehicle searches by NYPD officers on at least four separate occasions. In each instance, Mr. Oliver did not consent to the search and officers did not have any legitimate basis to believe he was armed or in possession of a weapon. Officers did not issue Mr. Oliver a traffic ticket, let alone recovered any contraband, during any of these four unlawful searches. 

“It’s awful every time the NYPD pulls me over and searches my car for no reason,” said plaintiff Christopher Oliver, “and it keeps on happening. I am now scared to drive anytime because I could get pointlessly pulled over and interrogated. But this is what driving while Black looks like in this city. I’m joining this lawsuit so the NYPD stops targeting me and other drivers for the color of our skin.” 

“The New York Police Department has too often relied on race in lieu of probable cause to escalate routine traffic stops into unconstitutional vehicle searches,” said L. Joy Williams, President of NAACP New York State Conference. “Driving while Black is not a crime and Black New Yorkers should not be so routinely subjected to such traumatic treatment as if it was. This is not a new issue. We have fought back against pretextual stops and searches before and once again we find ourselves in the midst of a return to form for the NYPD. Now is the time to confront and correct this behavior that, if left unchecked, will continue to erode community trust in law enforcement.” 

“These humiliating searches almost never turn up weapons or contraband,” said Anne Venhuizen, Deputy Director of the Impact Litigation Practice at The Bronx Defenders. “The NYPD is harassing our clients based on their race, full stop.” 

From 2022 t0 2024, NYPD vehicle searches resulting from traffic stops more than doubled. The increase is related to the NYPD’s focus on low-level quality-of-life offenses, which has also contributed to a recent surge in NYPD misconduct complaints. There is no evidence that traffic stops advance public safety, and advocates nationwide have called for non-police alternatives to traffic enforcement.  In 2020, Virginia passed legislation that limits traffic stops for minor violations. A similar bill has been introduced this year in New York, where 70 percent of voters support legislation to limit or end police enforcement of certain minor traffic violations to reduce unnecessary police interactions with drivers. 

NYCLU Counsel on the case includes attorneys Daniel Lambright, Bobby Hodgson, Thomas Munson, Elizabeth Gyori, Ify Chikezie, Molly Biklen, paralegal Zawareen Zakaria, Senior Legal Investigator Soleiman Moustafa, and Senior Data and Research Strategist Melissa Avilez-Lopez. Co-Counsel from Milbank includes Katherine Kelly Fell, Nicole Valente, Ariadne Ellsworth and Camille Cummings. 

You can find case materials here: https://www.nyclu.org/court-cases/naacp-v-city-of-ny  

You can find a NYCLU video featuring first-hand testimony from plaintiff Justin Cohen here.  

For more of the NYCLU’s vehicle stops data analysis, see here and here. 

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