Official Website of the Independent Monitor of the New York City Police Department

Appointed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to ensure that the NYPD’s policing practices related to stops, frisks, and searches comply with the law.

Our Mission & Focus

The Monitor Team works to ensure that the NYPD engages in constitutional stops, frisks, and searches.

The Monitor Team’s focus is on the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices, as well as its trespass enforcement. The Monitor Team regularly assesses the NYPD’s compliance and publicly files reports with the court detailing their findings.

Know Your Rights

When you are stopped, frisked, and/or searched by a New York City police officer, you have certain rights. 

Who We Are

Latest Report

On October 14, 2025, the Monitor filed its Twenty-Sixth Report, an analysis of the NYPD’s accountability efforts, with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Highlights include the following:

  • The NYPD’s internal remedy for unconstitutional stops, training and re-training of officers, has been ineffective.
  • The Department has made recent efforts to improve accountability, including the Early Intervention Program (“EIP”) and tracking of audits by patrol boroughs ahead of ComplianceStat.
  • Minimal to no discipline was imposed by commands in response to Quality Assurance Section (“QAS”) audits that found and flagged deficiencies in stop, frisk, and search procedures to the commands. In over 98% of improper stops, frisks, and searches identified by QAS in 2024, the officer was instructed, given training, or had no discipline imposed. Where discipline was imposed, it was overwhelmingly the lowest form of sanction for misconduct. Officers with repeated deficiencies were not given more severe discipline.
  • Interventions directed by the Early Intervention Committee as part of EIP efforts to correct the behavior of officers engaged in stop, frisk, and search violations were also ineffective. Commanding Officers rarely recommended interventions available under the program, and there was little structured follow-up to determine if interventions were successful. The interventions also had no impact on officer behavior and their constitutional compliance.
  • ComplianceStat has shown more promise. One previously poor-performing patrol borough increased their performance through multiple ComplianceStat visits, internal audits, and removal of supervisors for failure to address performance issues.
  • While ComplianceStat is promising, it is the first NYPD initiative in which borough and command supervisors are facing meaningful consequences for ineffective supervision and executive engagement. It is still unclear if the meetings will result in long-term improvement to supervision of stops, frisks and searches.