NYCLU sues NYPD over racial profiling in traffic stops

Citing extensive police data on traffic stops and searches, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP filed a lawsuit against the New York Police Department accusing the force of systematically and unconstitutionally targeting Black and Latino drivers.

Most vehicle searches were in minority neighborhoods, according to the data included in the federal complaint filed Wednesday, and Black and Latino drivers respectively were nearly 10 times and six times more likely to have their cars searched than white drivers.

The NYCLU likened the practice to stop-and-frisk policies that have been deemed unconstitutional, calling it “stop-and-frisk on wheels.”

In addition to the NAACP, two named plaintiffs brought the case. One of them, Justin Cohen, said at a press conference Thursday that his life was forever changed after police stopped him on his way home from a casino with a friend. The pair were pulled out of the car, frisked, searched and, after police didn’t find anything illegal, issued a speeding ticket that was later dismissed.

“That experience was very terrifying, because I wasn’t sure what was happening,” Cohen said of the May 3, 2023, incident in the Bronx.

After he was held for an hour, Cohen was released, but police took his shoes.

“I had to walk out the precinct barefoot,” he said Thursday. “I was treated not like a human being, but like an animal.”

The experience left Cohen with a lasting fear he described while saying he was sharing his story to stand up for countless other people of color who have been targeted by police stops and searches.

“When I get behind the wheel and see a police car, my stomach drops. This is what driving while Black looks like,” Cohen said. “We all deserve dignity, we all deserve safety and we all deserve justice.”

Reached for comment, an NYPD spokesperson pointed amNY to comments by Joshua Levin, then-NYPD director of legislative affairs, at a City Council public safety committee meeting on April 28, 2025. Levin at the time said the department sends more officers to areas with higher crime and resident complaints.

“Any time you have more police officers in a certain area, as a result you are going to see more enforcement, you are going to see more car stops, you are going to see more searches,” Levin said.

He also said the city has “many mechanisms in place” to help residents who feel they were illegally targeted.

NYPD data on car searches.Image via NYCLU

Representatives from the NYCLU, however, said the increased frequency of stops in any area is no excuse for unconstitutional and race-based searches.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU, noted that the problem began under the previous mayoral administration. Mayor Eric Adams, she said, “saw aggressive policing as the solution to nearly every problem.”

The policy goes against Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s vision of public safety, which is centered on fairness, Lieberman said.

“Regardless of who’s in Gracie Mansion, the NYCLU will not let the NYPD treat our city like a constitution-free zone,” she said. “This is unacceptable and it must come to an end. That’s why we’re in court.”