90% of drivers arrested in 2022 by NYPD were Latino or Black

About 90% of the drivers pulled over, searched, or arrested by New York City police officers in 2022 were Latino or Black, according to a new comprehensive data set on the New York Police Department’s vehicle stops. 

In 2022, the NYPD pulled over more than 670,000 drivers. About 77% of the stops resulted in a summons for minor violations, such as driving with a broken tail light.

A small percentage of stops—2.2%—resulted in arrests, with most of the individuals being arrested for license violations and possession of a forged instrument.

However, the data shows that Latino and Black drivers were searched and arrested at a higher rate than White drivers, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union, a nonprofit that first obtained the dataset. 

“As with the pedestrian stops during the height of stop and frisk, we are now seeing numbers where it’s quite clear that Black and Latino drivers are being singled out for the most aggressive police activity,” said Christopher Dunn, the NYCLU's legal director. “That’s a source of a lot of concern.”

Black and Hispanic drivers made up 55% of the vehicle stops, accounting for 86% of arrests and 85% of vehicles searched. In comparison, White drivers made up 45% of stops but accounted for 7% of arrests and 5% of vehicles searched, according to the data. 

Additionally, 92% of the times that police used force during traffic stops was against a person of color. 

"Something is wrong when you see 9 out of ten people getting arrested are Black or Latino," Dunn said.

The newly released data is the first time that the NYPD has shared vehicle stop numbers, making it hard to know how the data compares to prior years.

However, the NYPD said that it hopes the new data set will become a “baseline” to understand the numbers. 

“But make no mistake,” a spokesperson said in a statement regarding the data. “Whether for street encounters or vehicle stops, both are fundamental tools in a thoughtful and multilayered public safety approach practiced by the NYPD to keep all New Yorkers safe and free from fear.”