Watchdog Urges Judge To Mandate Reforms On NYPD Street Stops

NEW YORK (AP)  --  A watchdog group is urging a judge to mandate sweeping changes to the New York Police Department's practice of stopping and questioning people on the street, saying civil liberties and transparency concerns remain.
 
Communities United for Police Reform said in a court filing on Monday that the NYPD isn't giving a full picture of how many stops it makes because it's only required to track ones it puts in the stop-and-frisk category.
 
The group says officers should be telling people subjected to non-stop-and-frisk stops that they're free to walk away. It wants the public told about discipline for officers engaging in abusive or unconstitutional stops.
 
The NYPD didn't immediately comment.
 
The department reported less than 10,000 stop-and-frisks last year, down from about 684,000 in 2011.