203-25 Department Policy Prohibiting Racial Profiling And Biased Based Policing

Question 1

1. MOS are reminded that nypd is committed both to the impartial enforcement of law and to the protections of constitutional rights. Sept prohibits the use of racial and bias based profiling in law enforcement actions.
2. Police enforcement actions must be based on standards required by the 4th and 14th amendments of US constitution, sections 11 &12 article 1 of the NYS constitution, and NYC administrative code and other applicable laws.
3. Race, color, ethnicity, or national origin may not be used as a motivating factor for initiating police enforcement action. Unless the officers decision is based on a specific suspect description that includes not just race, age, gender, but other identifying characteristics or info.
4. The last confers on police officers the authority to stop, question, and if warranted frisk and individual whom an officer reasonably suspects has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a felony or penal law misdemeanor. POs must be able to articulate the factors which led them to take enforcement action, in particular those factors leading to reasonable suspicion for stopping questioning and if appropriate frisking a person or probably cause for arresting or issuing a summons to a person. Individuals may not be targeted for any enforcement action, including stops, because they are members of a racial or ethnic group that appears more frequently in local crime suspect data.
5. Section 14-151 of the NYC admin code and department policy prohibits bias based profiling and include demographic categories in addition to race color and national origin. The admin code and department policy prohibit the dept and individual officers from Intentionally engaging in bias based profiling which is defined as “an act of a member of the force of the police dept or other law enforcement officer that relies on actual or perceived race, national origin, color, creed, age, alienate, or citizenship status, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or housing status as the determinative factor in initiating law enforcement action against an individual, rather than an individuals behavior or other info or circumstances that links a person or persons to suspected unlawful activity.

Answer 1

Race color ethnicity or national origin may not be used as a motivating factor for initiating police enforcement action

When a stop is not based on a specific suspect description, however race, ethnicity or national origin may not be used at all as a motivation or justification for the stop