Conclusion

Thousands of New Yorkers are stopped, questioned, and frisked every year. The majority of these stops are appropriate uses of police powers and are legal under federal and state law. But for those New Yorkers who believe that they were stopped improperly--on the basis of their race, or simply on the whim of a rogue officer--there are few avenues of legal recourse, and even those avenues are ineffective in most cases. Because most stops and frisks do not lead to arrest and the recovery of evidence, and because the qualified immunity doctrine shields most police action from scrutiny, few stops and frisks are ever reviewed by courts. Administrative review is also largely ineffectual because of the NYPD's lack of cooperation with the CCRB. The best hope for change comes from the NYPD itself; change in the way officers are trained in stop and frisk procedures, change in the performance criteria, quotas, and culture of the department itself. Additionally, departmental cooperation with administrative review by the CCRB, whether voluntary or imposed through political change, is necessary. Without these substantive changes within the NYPD, a large number of people stopped in violation of their constitutional rights will continue to have no recourse.

[a1] . Candidate for J.D., 2012, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.; B.A., New York University, 2006.