NYPD Must Stop Prolonging Warrant Check Stops in Class-Action Settlement

The New York City police department reached a legal settlement Friday that requires it to abandon a practice in which officers use prolonged street stops to check for arrest warrants and ties to other cases, a tactic critics denounced as “digital stop and frisk.”

Under the settlement, officers will only be permitted to conduct warrant searches during street stops if they have “reasonable suspicion” that the person stopped “was committing, committed or is about to commit” a crime or if there’s probable cause that they’ve done so.

The NYPD has revised its stop policy and is conducting training. The department sent a message to all officers notifying them of the change and is having it read at each shift’s roll call for 10 days. Violations could result in department discipline, according to the agreement.

Read more at nbcnewyork.com