The NST, PST, and CRT were initially formed in 2022 under the Adams administration and were deployed to high-crime areas of the city with a focus on seizing illegal guns. The CRT was initially formed to address quality-of-life issues around traffic or illegal marijuana sales, but eventually transitioned to similar work as the NST and PST, according to the monitor’s report.
All three teams were expected to be proactive with their enforcement, patrolling in unmarked cars, dressing in plainclothes and pursuing suspects based on their own observations instead of 911 calls.
The PST was disbanded in Nov. 2025, but many officers were moved to the still active NST and CRT.
The effectiveness of these proactive patrol groups has been questioned by police reform advocates since they were first formed, and data from the monitor’s report highlights how their patrol practices risk violating constitutional rights without producing results.
These specialized patrol groups regularly stopped pedestrians based on simple observations, such as a suspect appearing nervous around police officers or if a “L-shaped object resembling a gun” was noticed bulging out of a suspect’s clothes.
But according to the report, officers were much more prone to commit illegal stops, frisks and searches when they relied on their own observations rather than acting in response to a 911 call or a witness.
In 2025, only 80 percent of stops, 64 percent of frisks and 55 percent of searches self-initiated by officers were made legally.
By contrast, 86 percent of stops, 88 percent of frisks and 82 percent of searches initiated by a 911 call or witness were made legally.
The report also showed that officers who conducted lawful stops were about two and a half times more likely to make an arrest than when stops were made illegally. Lawful frisks and searches similarly lead to higher arrest rates.
Karina Tefft, a staff attorney in the special litigation unit at The Legal Aid Society, said the report showed the longstanding problems with stop-and-frisk policing, and called on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to end the practice.
“This report confirms what the people we serve have experienced for years: despite repeated warnings, court oversight, and promises of reform, the NYPD’s specialized units continue to violate the constitutional rights of New Yorkers of color at an alarming rate,” Tefft said. “The NYPD’s specialized units continue to illegally stop, frisk, and invasively search New Yorkers at unacceptable rates substantially higher than those of regular patrol officers.”
“New Yorkers deserve a police department that respects the Constitution, and the Mamdani Administration must take immediate action to end unconstitutional policing by the NYPD’s specialized enforcement units,” Tefft added.
Sam Raskin, a spokesperson for Mamdani, said the mayor’s office was reviewing the report.
“The Mamdani administration believes that constitutional policing, justice and public safety must go hand in hand,” Raskin said in a statement. “Every New Yorker deserves to be treated fairly and lawfully by members of the NYPD. We are reviewing the report closely and will continue working to ensure the Police Department keeps New Yorkers safe while upholding their constitutional rights.”
While stop-and-frisks have largely stopped being used since its height in 2011, when officers made a record 685,724 stops, the practice saw a general increase under the Adams administration.
In the final year of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s term in 2021, NYPD officers conducted just under 9,000 stops.
When Adams was elected into office, NYPD officers made more than 15,000 stops in both 2022 and 2023.