More than Half of 2011 NYPD Reasonable Suspicion Stops Involved Blacks, Report Says

The New York Police Department conducted 685,724 "reasonable suspicion stops" citywide in 2011, with more than half of the stops involving black individuals, according to a report released Monday by the NYPD.

The "Reasonable Suspicion Stops: Precinct Based Comparison by Stop and Suspect Description" report for 2011 noted that in all of New York City, 3.6 percent of those stopped were Asian or Pacific Islander, 9.4 percent were white, 33.9 percent were hispanic and 53.1 percent were black. 

The top crime suspected in stops was weapons possession, accounting for 25.6 percent of all stops, the report continued. All stops conducted equated to less than one stop per police officer per week among the 19,600 on patrol during the period. 

In the 88th Precinct, 7,734 reasonable suspicion stops were conducted, with the suspicion of robbery accounting for 33.6 percent of all stops. 

Of those stopped in the 88th, which includes Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, 1.3 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander, 6.1 percent were white, 13 percent were hispanic and 79.6 percent were black.