Yesterday, a federal judge ordered the NYPD to "immediately cease" their stop-and-frisk program outside of housing buildings in the Bronx, saying that it has "repeatedly" violated the rights of civilians. Judge Shira Scheindlin ordered the NYPD to alter their program in order to prevent "systematic, unlawful stops of innocent New Yorkers for trespassing."
The case was based on the NYPD's Open Halls program in the Bronx, where plaintiffs represented by the NYCLU and other civil liberties groups each spoke about harassment while performing harmless, everyday tasks. The buildings are part of the Trespass Affidavit Program, which grants police permission to patrol inside or around the premises.
Scheindlin told the NYPD to "immediately cease performing trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx without reasonable suspicion of trespass."
Her preliminary injunction states that "city policymakers should have known that their inadequate training and supervision regarding trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx was 'so likely to result in the violation of constitutional rights,’ that their failure to train constituted deliberate indifference."
