Crackdown coming over officers performing unlawful stops, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch says

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has warned that officers who continue to flout department procedure and the law when conducting certain stop and frisks, including intentionally leaving body cameras off, will face disciplinary action.

In a memo dated Feb. 5 and sent to all major commanders, including those in transit and housing, Tisch said some officers have been unlawfully carrying out stops without facing any department discipline.

The commissioner told commanders in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by Newsday, that problems with so-called "Level 3 stops" were her main concern. Those stops are considered investigative in nature and are conducted only when an officer believes a person has, is in the process of, or about to commit a crime. On Level 3 stops, an officer can detain the subject for questioning.

Tisch said "most officers, most of the time" do stop and frisks lawfully, but some have failed to properly document the encounters, including leaving body cameras off.

"That failure ends with this memo," Tisch said in the two-page document, which also took command staff to task for the lack of post-stop discipline.

Tisch acknowledged that officers have made good-faith errors when failing to document a stop and frisk, which she said can be remedied with training. When a violation is intentional, the commissioner said in the memo, the officer’s supervisor is expected to impose harsher penalties as provided by the department’s disciplinary matrix.

The memo came two days after a court-appointed monitor of the NYPD found that in 2022 and 2023, two specialized anti-crime units had markedly lower rates of lawful stop and frisks than regular details. The monitor, Mylan Denerstein, pointed to supervision as the problem, but also lauded a recent effort by the department to use "ComplianceStat," a data system measuring proper documentation of stops.

In a statement, the NYPD said Tisch's memo was in the works before the release of Denerstein's report.

From a high of about 970,000 Level 3 stop and frisks a year in 2011, the number has plunged since to about 20,000 last year. The drop occurred after a 2013 federal court ruling that stop and frisks had a disparate impact on minorities. As one remedy, the court established a monitor over the stops.

In crafting her memo, Tisch signaled that improvements in the way stop and frisks are carried out is one way the NYPD can maintain control and autonomy regarding its disciplinary process.

"Our failure to impose proper discipline for repeated or intentional violations of law and policy in connection with Level 3 stops undermines the integrity of our disciplinary system and puts the long-term independence of that system at significant risk," Tisch said.

Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Hendry said in a statement to Newsday that the union had warned the department its enforcement strategies would "run afoul" of the various oversight bodies looking at the NYPD.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.