The City Council put police practices under the microscope on Monday.

Council members say the purpose of their hearing was to examine NYPD operations, including training and discipline, when it comes to the unconstitutional and controversial practice of stop-and-frisk, as well as how the department has implemented the new “How Many Stops Act” that went into effect earlier this year.

That law requires police to record the race, age and gender of all levels 1, 2 and 3 stops.

“We are here trying to right the wrongs and set the balance straight,” Bronx Councilmember Althea Stevens said.

Samy Feliz, who testified before the Council’s Committee on Public Safety, said cops unjustly stopped his brother, Allan, in 2019, then shot and killed him.

“At this moment, officers are not being held accountable for any actions, whether it’s minor or for taking a life,” Feliz said. “I am also a New Yorker who is regularly stopped for my appearance and color of my skin.”

Manhattan Councilmember Yusef Salaam, who is the chair of the Council’s Committee on Public Safety, also says he has repeatedly been a victim of unjust stops.

“Sixteen officers came out of four different cop cars and stopped me,” Salaam said in the hearing.

Police stops peaked at nearly 700,000 in 2011 during the height of stop-and-frisk during former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s time in office, according to officials. The number dropped 98% six years later. But according to the monitor and the New York City Liberties Union, the number has crept back up.

According to a federal monitor’s report, unconstitutional stops increased from 10.6% in 2021 to 11.3% in 2022, while unconstitutional frisks increased from 15.8% in 2021 to 23.9% in 2022.

During the same time frame, NYPD officers did not submit reports in more than 31% of audited stops, and unlawful searches also went up nearly 50%, according to the report.

NYPD leaders during Monday’s hearing acknowledged the number of stops has decreased, but the percentage of Black and brown individuals stopped remains disproportionately high.

“Does being Black in any neighborhood create reasonable grounds to be searched?” Queens Councilmember Tiffany Cabán asked.

“The question is offensive, and the answer is no,” Michael Gerber, deputy commissioner of legal matters for the NYPD, responded.  

“If the question is offensive, why does your data show, regardless of neighborhood, Black people are subject to stop and frisk more than any other race?” Cabán continued.

“You are suggesting that we are targeting people because of their race,” Gerber said. “And we are not.”

The hearing was not without tension.

“Would you admit that policing is dangerous?” Queens Councilmember Bob Holden asked a panel of police reform advocates.

After a slight pause, Feliz replied, “Can you admit that being Black in America is dangerous?”

Queens Councilmember Vickie Paladino further stoked tensions

“Are you racist? Are you racist? I wanna go down the line,” she asked the same panel.

It was at that moment that Salaam banged the gavel and asked the room to “level set” and to have a “respectful” dialogue.

“I am not the enemy of the NYPD,” Stevens said. “I am not the enemy of Republicans. But let’s be clear. If we wanna talk about race, then why do we have a database that has 99% people of color on it and no one else? So the question to ask isn’t if we are racist. The question to ask is: Are the practices the NYPD is putting into place racist?”