An increase in stop-and-frisk actions by the New York City Police Department last year after years of decline was due to better record-keeping, officials said. There were 13,459 reported instances of stop-and-frisk for the year, up 22 percent from 11,008 in 2018, reports the Wall Street Journal. The number of reported stops was the highest since 2015, but low compared to previous years. The number fell from a high of 685,724 in 2011 to its lowest point ever in 2018. The policy gives police officers authority to stop, question and frisk people they suspect of criminal behavior. Opponents say the policy affects blacks and Latinos at disproportionately high rates. In 2013, a federal judge declared the stop-and-frisk policy unconstitutional.
Debate over the practice reignited last year, when former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is pursuing the Democratic presidential nomination, apologized for his support of the policing strategy during his three terms as mayor. Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, has touted the decline in stop-and-frisks during his two terms. He said there had been concerns about under-reporting in the past, and the increase showed officers had a better understanding of what was a “stop.” NYPD officials said the increase in reported stops in 2019 was due to better record-keeping driven partly by officers’ use of body-worn cameras and increased training. Civilian complaints about stop-and-frisk by officers have declined from a high of 2,557 in 2007 to a low of 776 in 2019, says the Civilian Complaint Review Board.