NEW YORK — Black motorists are more likely to be pulled over by police than members of the city’s other racial groups, New York Police Department data released Friday show.
During the first three months of 2022, NYPD officers stopped 51,373 Black motorists — accounting for 29% of all the vehicle stops made in the five boroughs, the data shows.
That 29% pullover rate for black motorists contrasts with city government data that show Blacks make up about 20% of the city’s population.
Whites and Latinos were proportionally less likely to be stopped, the data show.
Whites accounted for about 25% of motor vehicle stops, and make up about 31% of the city’s population. Latino people accounted for 25% of the vehicle stops, and account for about 28% of the city’s population.
In a news release, the NYPD said the races of motorists pulled over by police are “roughly proportional to the city’s overall racial demographics.”
The data were released under the requirements of a law passed last year by the City Council.
Of the 176,753 traffic stops reported by NYPD officers in the first three months of this year, just 4,222 — or 2% — resulted in arrests, the department said. Those 4,222 arrests required officers to use “some level of force” 88 times, said the news release.
The department did not elaborate on where these incidents occurred, but said they predominantly took place in the city’s most crime-stricken areas.
Patrolling officers in high-crime areas are focused on “identifying the drivers of violence,” stopping vehicles with illegal, paper license plates and pulling over reckless, speeding drivers, the NYPD says.
Traffic stops are an important part of NYPD law enforcement efforts, the news release said.
“We often say that traffic safety is public safety – we have no tolerance for even one criminal motorist,” Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in a statement.
“In a city made more vibrant by the free-flow of automobiles, a robust vehicle-safety strategy is a fundamental tool in assuring everyone’s right to safe travel,” Sewell said. “The transparency of this data helps serve that mission.”
