OPINION & ORDER
I. INTRODUCTION.......................................................483
II. LEGAL STANDARD FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION..................486
III. APPLICABLE LAW.....................................................487
A. Sources of Liability...................................................487
B. The Fourth Amendment, Stops, and Reasonable Suspicion.................488
C. Criminal Trespass under New York State Law...........................490
D. DeBour............................................................491
IV. FINDINGS OF FACT....................................................492
A. Evidence of an Unconstitutional Practice or Custom of the NYPD..........492
1. Findings of Fact Regarding Testimony of ADA Rucker and Decline to Prosecute Forms.............................................492
2. Findings of Fact Regarding Plaintiffs’ Stops .........................496
a. Charles Bradley’s Stop........................................497
b. Abdullah Turner’s Stops.......................................499
c. J.G.’s Stop...................................................503
d. Jerome Grant’s Stop ..........................................504
e. Roshea Johnson’s Stop ........................................505
f. Letitia Ledan’s Stops..........................................506
g. Fernando Moronta’s Stop......................................507
h. Kieron Johnson’s Stop.........................................508
i. Jovan Jefferson’s Stop.........................................509
3. Expert Testimony Regarding UF-250 Forms ........................510
B. Steps Taken by the NYPD in 2012......................................517
1. NYPD Recognition of a Problem in TAP.............................517
2. Interim Orders 22 and 23 of 2012...................................518
3. Absence of Steps Meaningfully Addressing Outdoor TAP Stops.........520
V. DISCUSSION...........................................................522
A. Standing............................................................522
B. Preliminary Injunctive Relief..........................................523
a. Deliberate Indifference........................................523
i. ADA Rucker’s Testimony................................524
ii. Plaintiffs’ Stops ........................................524
in. Decline to Prosecute Forms..............................526
iv. Dr. Fagan’s Analysis....................................527
v. Notice to Defendants....................................531
vi. Legal Analysis.........................................532
b. Failure to Rebut Deliberate Indifference Claim Based on Steps Taken by NYPD in 2012 ..................................... 533
2. Irreparable Harm ................................................539
3. Balance of Equities....................... 539
4. Public Interest...................................................541
C. Appropriate Scope of Injunctive Relief..................................541
1. Immediate Relief.................................................542
2. Proposed Additional Relief.........................................543
a. Policies and Procedures........................................544
b. Supervision..................................................544
c. Training.....................................................544
d. Attorneys’ Fees...............................................545
VI. CONCLUSION..........................................................545
APPENDIX A..................................................................545
APPENDIX B..................................................................550
I. INTRODUCTION
This case, filed in 2012, is one of three cases currently before this Court challenging aspects of the New York City Police Department’s “stop and frisk” practices.
In 1964, New York adopted the first version of its stop and frisk law, which has since been amended several times. The essence of the law is that a police officer may stop a person in a public place when he reasonably suspects that such person is committing, has committed, or is about to commit a crime, and the officer may demand of him his name, his address, and an explanation of his conduct. Upon stopping a person, if the police officer reasonably suspects that he is in danger of physical injury, he may search the person for a deadly weapon.
In 1968, the United States Supreme Court heard a challenge to New York’s stop and frisk statute in the context of two criminal convictions, and made some important points that bear repeating today.
In confronting the issues addressed in this Opinion, I am keenly aware that this Court does not stand in the shoes of the Police Department and is in no way qualified or empowered to engage in policy determinations. The sole role of the Court is to interpret and apply the law — in this case the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court of the United States and the United States Court of Aрpeals for the Second Circuit — to the specific facts before it. I have endeavored faithfully to carry out that limited role. My object here is only to clarify what the law permits — and does not permit — an officer to do when initiating and conducting a stop or stop and frisk of people in the public areas outside of certain privately owned buildings in the Bronx.
Plaintiffs, all of whom are African-American or Latino residents of New York,
On September 24, 2012, plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, seeking an order requiring the NYPD to create and implement new policies, training programs, and monitoring and supervisory procedures that specifically address the problem of unconstitutional trespass stops outside TAP buildings.
I begin by summarizing the relevant legal standards, then state my findings of fact and conclusions of law. Based on all the evidence presented at the hearing, I conclude that plaintiffs have shown a clear likelihood of proving that defendants have displayed deliberate indifference toward a widespread practice of unconstitutional trespass stops by the NYPD outside TAP buildings in the Bronx. This conclusion is based on five categories of evidence, briefly summarized here and fully explored below: (1) the testimony of Bronx Assistant District Attorney Jeannette Rucker (“ADA Rucker”), who concluded that the NYPD frequently made trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx for no reason other than that the officer had seen someone enter and exit or exit the building; (2) a sample of “decline to prosecute” forms prepared by the Bronx District Attorneys’ Office, which revealed the alarming frequency of unlawful trespass stops in the vicinity of TAP buildings in the Bronx; (3) the testimony of eight plaintiffs and a non-party witness, who described remarkably similar encounters with the police when stopped in the vicinity of TAP buildings in the Bronx; (4) the analysis by Dr. Jeffrey Fagan, plaintiffs’ expert, of an NYPD database of recorded stops, which provided further evidence of the frequency of apparently unlawful trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx; and (5) NYPD training materials that continue to misstate the minimal constitutional standards for making stops.
As a result, plaintiffs are entitled to a preliminary injunction. However, with one exception, I am not yet ordering relief pending a further hearing on the appropriate scope of such relief.
II. LEGAL STANDARD FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION
“‘A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary remedy never awarded as of right.’ ”
Because plaintiffs seek mandatory injunctive relief including the drafting and
III. APPLICABLE LAW
A. Sources of Liability
Plaintiffs bring a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging violations of their Fourth Amendment rights by the City of New York and several of its employees.
One way to establish an official policy is through a showing of “deliberate indifference” by high-level officials. “ ‘[Wjhere a policymaking official exhibits deliberate indifference to constitutional deprivations caused by subordinates, such that the official’s inaction constitutes a deliberate choice, that acquiescence may be properly thought of as a city policy or custom that is actionable under § 1983.’ ”
Recognizing that “deliberate indifference” is “a stringent standard of fault,” the Second Circuit requires “that the policymaker’s inaction was the result of ‘conscious choice’ and not ‘mere negli
A municipality may incur Monell liability based on deliberate indifference through its training practices. Although “[a] municipality’s culpability for a deprivation of rights is at its most tenuous where a claim turns on a failure to train,”
B. The Fourth Amendment, Stops, and Reasonable Suspicion
The Fourth Amendment, made applicable to the States by the Fourteenth Amendment,
“While ‘reasonable suspicion’ is a less demanding standard than probable cause and requires a showing considerably less than preponderance of the evidence, the Fourth Amendment requires at least a minimal level of objective justification for making the stop.”
It is sometimes the case that a police officer may observe “a series of acts, each of them perhaps innocent in itself, but which taken together warrant[] further investigation.”
Courts reviewing stops for reasonable suspicion “must look at ‘the totality of the circumstances’ of each case to see whether the detaining officer has a ‘particularized and objective basis’ for suspecting legal wrongdoing.”
The test for whether a Terry stop has taken place outdoors is whether “a reasonable person would feel free ‘to disregard the police and go about his business.’ ”
C. Criminal Trespass under New York State Law
Criminal trespass is defined under section 140 of the New York Penal Law. As the Appellate Division, First Department, of the Supreme Court of New York recently stated in a case concerning alleged trespass in a Clean Halls building:
A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the second degree when, in pertinent part, he “knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a dwelling” (Penal Law § 140.15[1]). A person “enters or remains unlawfully” in or upon premises “when he is not licensed or privileged to do so” (Penal Law § 140.00[5]). “In general, a person is ‘licensed or privileged’ to enter private premises when he has obtained the consent of the owner or another whose relationship to the premises gives him authority to issue such consent” (People v. Graves,76 N.Y.2d 16 , 20,556 N.Y.S.2d 16 ,555 N.E.2d 268 ... [1990]). The prosecution bears the burden of proving the absence of such license or privilege (People v. Brown,25 N.Y.2d 874 , 377,306 N.Y.S.2d 449 ,254 N.E.2d 755 ... [1969] ).53
The trespass law also states:
A person who, regardless of his intent, enters or remains in or upon premises*491 which are at the time open to the public does so with license and privilege unless he defies a lawful order not to enter or remain, personally communicated to him by the owner of such premises or other authorized person. A license or privilege to enter or remain in a building which is only partly open to the public is not a license or privilege to enter or remain in that part of the building which is not open to the public.54
D. De Bour
In People v. De Bour, the New York Court of Appeals established a four-level test for determining the legality of encounters between police officers and civilians under New York state law. The more intrusive the encounter, the more justification required:
• Level 1: Approach to Request Information: “If a police officer seeks simply to request information from an individual, that request must be supported by an objective, credible reason, not necessarily indicative of criminality.”55
• Level 2: The Common-Law Right of Inquiry: “Once the officer asks more pointed questions that would lead the person approached reasonably to believe that he or she is suspected of some wrongdoing and is the focus of the officer’s investigation, the officer is [engaged in] a common-law inquiry that must be supported by a founded suspicion that criminality is afoot.”56
• Level 3: Forcible Stop: “Where a police officer has reasonable suspicion that a particular person was involved in a felony or misdemeanor, the officer is authorized to forcibly, stop and detain that person.”57 A Level 3 stop is legally equivalent to a Terry stop, and New York state court opinions generally refer to Level 3 De Bour stops and Terry stops interchangeably.58
• Level 4: Arrest: “Finally, where the officer has probable cause to believe that a person has committed a crime, an arrest is authorized.”59
At least in the context of police encounters inside TAP and NYCHA buildings, New York courts have often identified requests for name and purpose in the building as Level 1 questions.
IV. FINDINGS OF FACT
A. Evidence of an Unconstitutional Practice or Custom of the NYPD
At the hearing, plaintiffs offered three categories of evidence in support of their contention that the NYPD has a practice of making unconstitutional trespass stops outside Clean Halls buildings in the Bronx. First, plaintiffs offered the testimony of ADA Rucker regarding her concerns about trespass stops and arrests at Clean Halls buildings, corroborated by “decline to prosecute” forms from the Bronx District Attorney’s office. Second, plaintiffs offered testimony regarding their personal experiences of having been stopped outside Clean Halls buildings.
I address each of these categories of evidence in turn.
1. Findings of Fact Regarding Testimony of ADA Rucker and Decline to Prosecute Forms
Since 2007, ADA Rucker has been chief of the complaint and arraignments bureau at the Bronx DA. In this position, she oversees the arrest to arraignment process, ensuring “that we evaluate all cases that are coming through and making sure we are doing the right thing.” ADA Ruck-er testified that around 2007 she started to become concerned about cases in which people were being stopped and then arrested based solely on their having entered or exited a Clean Halls building. Especially in 2009, judges began dismissing these cases frequently, sometimes saying that the police had no right to approach the arrested person in the first place.
ADA Rucker also started to receive a steady stream of complaints about trespass arrests from the defense bar, the Legal Aid Society, and the Bronx Defenders.
Finally, in 2011, ADA Rucker investigated the law governing trespass stops based on entry to and exit from a Clean Halls building, and she determined that the office’s position on the prerequisites for a legal stop had been wrong.
I find ADA Rucker’s testimony credible. It is no small matter when an ADA publicly suggests that the NYPD has been engaged in a recurring pattern of unlawful stops. Such testimony is entitled to significant weight. A prosecutor has professional and institutional incentives to be skeptical of allegations that the police are making stops and arrests without a legal basis. That ADA Rucker overcame her skepticism says a great deal about the severity of the problem she came to recognize. I also note that the NYPD itself found ADA Rucker sufficiently trustworthy to allow her to train police officers regarding procedures in the complaint room.
Yet defendants argue that ADA Ruck-er’s impression that a problem existed regarding unlawful trespass stops at Clean Halls buildings was unfounded, and in fact rested only on the two specific cases she discussed in detail at the hearing.
To the extent that ADA Rucker’s concerns were based partly on statements made by non-parties who did not testify at the hearing and whose statements do not fall under any hearsay exception, I give no weight to the truth of those statements. I do not accept, however, the insinuation that ADA Rucker invented the problem of unlawful Clean Halls trespass stops in order to lessen the Bronx DA’s caseload,
The decline to prosecute forms are an important source of information and I have reviewed each of them. Plaintiffs entered into evidence twenty-six forms generated by the Bronx DA’s office in support of its decision not to prosecute cases involving arrests for trespass outside TAP buildings in the Bronx over three sample months in 2011.
In an Appendix to this Opinion, I have collected excerpts from the twenty-six narratives of stops and arrests that appear in the decline to prosecute forms.
On January 5, 2011 the defendants were observed exiting a [CJlean [Hjalls building. The defendants stated they were there to visit a tenant in the building. After being arrested[,] a tenant from the building did corroborate the defendant[s’] statements and the tenant stated that both defendants were in the building as his guests.
Therefore, the People are declining to prosecute this case at this time [redacted].85
In sum, ADA Rucker’s testimony and the supporting exhibits, including the decline to prosecute forms, contained more than enough evidence to support the conclusion that there is a clear and substantial likelihood that plaintiffs will be able to prove аt trial that NYPD officers in the Bronx repeatedly stopped and questioned people on suspicion of trespass simply because they were observed exiting or entering and exiting a Clean Halls building. ADA Rucker’s testimony and the supporting exhibits show that a nexus existed between the Clean Halls program and the kinds of unlawful trespass stops described by plaintiffs and quantified by Dr. Fagan, as discussed in the sections below. That is, the stops of people exiting or entering and exiting Clean Halls buildings took place because the buildings were enrolled in Operation Clean Halls.
Plaintiffs offered testimony at the preliminary injunction hearing regarding their experiences in having been stopped on suspicion of trespass outside Clean Halls buildings in the Bronx. Sometimes plaintiffs’ accounts were corroborated by other plaintiffs and witnesses. In a few cases, the parties were able to identify officers who took part in the stops, and these officers testified. In other cases, neither plaintiffs nor defendants were able to identify the officers.
Defendants argue that plaintiffs failed to provide sufficient information to identify the John Doe officers in the case, and that as a result this Court should not credit plaintiffs’ testimony.
Nevertheless, while I found plaintiffs’ testimony credible, it would obviously have been valuable to hear from the unnamed officers involved in plaintiffs’ stops. The officers were never identified. I find that this was due in part to the lack of specificity in some of plaintiffs’ memories of their encounters. At the same time, I also find that defendants made inadequate efforts to identify officers based on the information plaintiffs did provide.
Defendants claim that Sgt. Robert Mu-sick of the NYPD’s Special Litigation Support Unit “conducted an exhaustive search to determine the officers involved in the purported incidents presented by plaintiffs at the hearing.”
Because I find it extremely implausible that any plaintiff simply invented the stop or stops to which he or she testified, because defendants failed to make a sufficiently persuasive effort to identify the officers involved, and because the officers who did testify failed to undermine any plaintiff’s credibility, I decline to draw speculative inferences in defendants’ favor regarding the reasons that unidentified officers might have provided for their stops,
a. Charles Bradley’s Stop
On May 3, 2011, after finishing his work for the day as a security guard, Charles Bradley, a black fifty-one year old resident of the Bronx, took the subway to visit his fiancee, Lisa Michelle Rappa, as they had arranged the evening before.
When Bradley arrived at Rappa’s apartment building, a young man who lived on the first floor and knew of Bradley’s and Rappa’s relationship let Bradley into the building. Bradley then walked up the stairs to Rappa’s apartment on the fifth floor and knocked. Because Rappa is deaf in one ear, Bradley waited a minute or two. When there was still no response, he returned downstairs and left the building. Outside, he looked up toward Rappa’s window.
While Bradley was standing on the sidewalk, an unmarked green police van approached and an officer in the passenger seat — later identified as Officer Miguel Santiago — gestured for Bradley to come over.
After twenty or thirty minutes in the van, the officers stopped at the station house. Bradley was taken into a room, stripped, and told to wait.
Officer Santiago also testified at the hearing, explaining that he worked two tours on May 3, 2011, the first from 4 a.m. to 12:35 p.m. and the second from 1 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Bradley’s arrest took place around 5:20 p.m., after Officer Santiago had been patrolling with his partner, Officer Landro Perez, for a few hours without incident.
Officer Santiago’s account of Bradley’s arrest differed from Bradley’s in several respects. Officer Santiago claimed that before stopping Bradley, he had observed Bradley at the end of a hallway inside the building “suspiciously walking back and forth” for two or three minutes and “disap
Officer Santiago testified that he approached Bradley after Bradley exited the building and said: “Excuse me, sir, could you come over here?”
The paperwork Officer Santiago completed with regard to Bradley’s stop and arrest contained numerous, self-serving errors.
I find Bradley’s account credible. Bradley entered a Clean Halls building based on an invitation from a tenant, walked upstairs to the tenant’s residence, found the tenant not home, then returned outside and waited on the sidewalk while considering what to do. In response to Officer Santiago’s questions, Bradley offered reasonable and unsuspicious answers. Bradley’s conduct provided no further basis for a stop.
b. Abdullah Turner’s Stops
On the evening of March 26, 2011, Abdullah Turner, a black twenty-four year old, had plans to go to an engagement
While Trinidad went inside, Turner remained outside and called another close Mend, Felisha Black, on his cell phone. During the call, he paced in a circle on the sidewalk, trying to stay warm.
After Turner had been pacing and talking on the phone for about five minutes, someone “snatched the phone out of my hand.”
Turner testified that the Hispanic officer who took his phone began questioning him about what he was doing and whether he lived at 2020 Davidson. Turner explained that his Mend was returning a sweater and they were on their way to a party in the next building. The officer asked for identification, and Turner gave him his driver’s license. After the officer saw that Turner did not live on the block, he asked again what Turner was doing at 2020 Davidson, and Turner explained again.
After confiscating these items, the Hispanic officer approached Turner and pointed to a sign on 2020 Davidson and asked him if he knew what the sign meant. Turner said he did not. The sign stated that 2020 Davidson was enrolled in Operation Clean Halls. The officеr told Turner that he was trespassing and was going to jail. Turner asked how he could be trespassing if he was outside. The officer repeated that Turner was going to jail and placed him in handcuffs.
After being driven to the precinct in a paddy wagon, Turner spent several hours waiting, was fingerprinted, and then was transferred to central booking, where he spent several more hours. It was not until the next day that a judge released Turner. He was then obligated to return to court eight to ten times before the charges were dismissed.
Officer Ramdeen testified to a different version of events. He testified that he and Officer Pomerantz were driving past 2020 Davidson when he saw Turner in the lobby. Officer Pomerantz stopped the car and Officer Ramdeen watched as Turner paced aimlessly in the lobby for two to three minutes, occasionally looking up the stairs. Aware that 2020 Davidson was a Clean Halls building, Officer Ramdeen approached Turner, who then exited the lobby. In response to Officer Ramdeen’s brief questioning, Turner volunteered that his friend was engaged in a drug deal.
I find Turner’s testimony to be credible. Turner stopped briefly at 2020 Davidson so that Trinidad could allegedly return a sweater. While Trinidad went inside, Turner talked on his cell phone outside for a few minutes. Officers Ramdeen, Pomerantz, and likely Montanez saw him standing outside the building in the cold, stopped him, and questioned him. Turner’s responses to the officers’ questions were reasonable and unsuspicious. Turner provided no other grounds for suspicion. I did not find credible Officer Ramdeen’s testimony concerning Turner’s spontaneous confession. Turner persuasively denied that he made the confession,
Finally, Turner credibly testified to having been stopped on another night during December 2011 or January 2012 outside of his own building, 2249 Morris Avenue, which is also a Clean Halls building in the Bronx. As Turner was exiting the building, a police car pulled up. Turner’s thirteen-year-old brother, a friend, and the friend’s nephew were talking at the front of the courtyard. When Turner began to step out of the courtyard, a female officer got out of the car and asked whether they all lived in the building, and they all responded yes. Then the officer asked for Turner’s identification, and he gave it to her.
As to whether Turner’s second stop was based on the suspicion of trespass, the evidence is less clear.
c. J.G.’s Stop
J.G. is the son of plaintiff Jaenean Ligón and the brother of J.A.G. and Jerome Grant. The family lives in a Clean Halls building in the Bronx.
J.G., who is black and seventeen years old, testified that the first time he remembered being stopped around his apartment building was on an evening in August 2011. He had gone to a nearby store to buy ketchup for dinner. On his way back, he saw two plainclothes officers with badges in front of his building and three uniformed officers across the street. When J.G. reached his building, the officers stopped him and began asking him questions, such as where he was coming from, where he was headed, and what he had in his bag. After J.G. answered that he had ketchup in the bag, one of the officers asked him to raise his hands, then asked him what he had in his pockets. The officer started to frisk him, first shaking J.G.’s pockets, then putting a hand in J.G.’s left pocket,
Ligon’s testimony supported J.G.’s account. Ligón testified that she sent J.G. to the store for ketchup one evening when she was cooking chicken and french fries. A few minutes after he left, she heard her bell ring.
I find J.G.’s and Ligon’s testimony credible. J.G. provided no grounds for suspicion of trespass — or indeed of any other crime — as he approached his building. He also provided no grounds for suspicion in his responses to the officers’ questions. J.G. provided no further basis for a stop, much less a frisk. Because the officers did not ask J.G. whether he lived in the building, it is unclear whether J.G.’s stop was based on the suspicion of trespass. Nevertheless, because J.G. was only stopped as he approached a Clean Halls building, because the officers’ questions indicate no suspicion of any other crime other than trespass, and because the parties have been unable to locate a UF-250 indicating otherwise, it remains more likely than not that J.G. was stopped on suspicion of trespass — if his stop was indeed based on a particularized suspicion of any crime at all.
d. Jerome Grant’s Stop
Jerome Grant, J.G.’s older brother and Ligon’s son, testified that his grandmother, Betty Ligón, lives at 274 Bonner Place in the Bronx.
Grant, who is black and nineteen years old, testified that the first time the police stopped him at his grandmother’s building was in July 2011. He had been playing basketball with his little brother J.A.G., his cousin, and a friend. In the evening, the group needed to pick up a key from Grant’s grandmother’s house, so they began walking toward it and sent J.A.G. to run ahead. J.A.G. went inside the building without leaving the door open, so the others knocked loudly on the door.
Two uniformed male police officers, one white and one Asian, approached with flashlights and asked if Grant, his cousin, and his friend lived in the building, and if they were trespassing. Grant explained that they were visiting their grandmother’s apartment to get a key, and Grant’s cousin asked if they were doing anything wrong.
Then the Asian officer returned Grant’s ID and told the group to turn around and place their hands against the wall. The Asian officer asked Grant’s cousin whether he had any drugs or blades in his pockets, then grabbed his shoulders and patted him down to the ankles, stopping to remove all the contents from his pockets.
I find Grant’s testimony largely credible, though it conflicted in certain minor details with his deposition testimony.
e. Roshea Johnson’s Stop
Roshea Johnson is the brother o f plaintiff Letitia Ledan.
On the morning of Father’s Day 2010, Johnson, who is black and was then thirty-four years old, went to Ledan’s apartment to change into clothes he had left there. To enter River Park Towers, it is not necessary to pass through security or a closed gate, or to have a key. Johnson walked into Ledan’s building and took the elevator to her floor. When he knocked at Ledan’s door, there was no answer. He went back to the elevator and returned to the ground floor, planning to call Ledan on the payphone in front of a supermarket in the complex.
As Johnson crossed the street to the payphone, a black van pulled up with police officers inside. One officer asked him where he was coming from.
The officers then drove the van to another part of the complex and questioned Johnson.
I find Johnson’s testimony credible. Johnson provided no grounds for suspicion of trespass as he entered and exited Ledan’s building. He also provided no grounds for suspicion in his interactions with the officers. Nor did Johnson’s conduct provide any other basis for a stop.
f. Letitia Ledan’s Stops
Letitia Ledan, Roshea Johnson’s sister, testified that she has lived at River Park Towers for the past eleven years. She chairs the maintenance and elevator committee in the tenants’ association. As noted above, River Park Towers is enrolled in Operation Clean Halls.
Ledan, who is black, testified that she has been stopped six times in or around her building. Twice the stops occurred outdoors. The first took place at some time in 2009, although she could not provide a more precise date. Two white male officers stopped her in front of a supermarket in the River Park Towers complеx as she was about to leave the complex. They asked her whether she lived there and whether she had an ID, then took her ID, looked at it, handed it back to her, and said to have a nice day. During the roughly three-minute encounter, she did not feel free to leave because the officers were standing in front of her and had her ID.
Ledan’s second outdoor stop occurred in the summer of 2011. Ledan was returning home from work in the afternoon and saw four uniformed police officers standing with her husband and two of her friends in front of her building. While one of the officers patted down one of Ledan’s friends, another was patting down Ledan’s
I find Ledan’s testimony as to both encounters credible. Plaintiffs have failed to establish, however, that Ledan’s encounters constituted Terry stops. Despite Ledan’s subjective feeling that she was not free to leave in the first encounter, Ledan’s limited testimony tended to show that the officers approached and asked her questions politely and not in an aggressive, coercive, or threatening manner. “[Ejven when officers have no basis for suspecting a particular individual, they may generally ask questions of that individual; [and] ask to examine the individual’s identification ... as long as the police do not convey a message that compliance with their requests is required.”
Similarly, Ledan’s testimony concerning her second encounter with the police suggested that it was consensual. Without delving into the intricacies of Fourth Amendment case law concerning consensual stops,
g. Fernando Moronta’s Stop
Fernando Moronta, who is Latino, was thirty-six years old at the time of the
When Moronta left the building at around 10:30 p.m., a police van pulled up and half a dozen uniformed officers exited and began questioning Moronta about where he was going and what he was doing in the building. After Moronta explained that he had been at his brother’s apartment, one of the officers asked if he had anything sharp in his pockets and then patted him down and searched his pockets.
At the door, Moronta’s brother identified Moronta, and after the white officer compared the name given to the name on Moronta’s ID, “he looked at me and smirked and gave my ID back.”
I find Moronta’s testimony credible. Moronta provided no grounds for suspicion as he exited his brother’s building, or in his responses to the officers’ questions. Moronta’s conduct provided no other basis for a stop.
h. Kieron Johnson’s Stop
Kieron Johnson, who is black, was twenty-one years old at the time of the hearing. He lives in a Clean Halls building in the Bronx and testified to having been stopped in or near Clean Halls buildings seven or eight times, and to having seen others stopped about ten times. His best friend, plaintiff Jovan Jefferson, lives across the street at 1546 Selwyn Avenue, another Clean Halls building.
On a warm day in 2010, around noon, Jefferson invited Johnson over to play basketball. Johnson went to Jefferson’s building and waited outside, about six steps away from the door.
I find Johnson’s testimony credible, despite his inability to offer a more precise date for the stop. Defendants argue that Johnson’s stop was not for trespass, because he testified that at the time of the stop, he believed the officers were truancy officers.
i. Jovan Jefferson’s Stop
Jovan Jefferson, who is black, was twenty years old at the time of the hearing. As noted above, he lives in a Clean Halls building in the Bronx. Jefferson testified that he had been stopped outside Clean Halls buildings about seven to eight times, and inside Clean Halls buildings about three to four times. Jefferson’s friend Brandon Muriel lives at 1515 Selwyn Avenue, another Clean Halls building in the Bronx.
Jefferson testified that his most recent stop outside a Clean Halls building occurred between April and June 2012. He and Muriel had been watching SportsCenter in Muriel’s apartment when Muriel left for work. It was shortly after noon as the two of them stepped out of Muriel’s building.
Rodriguez asked Jefferson and Muriel where they were coming from and why they were in the building. The officers also asked Muriel for his ID. Then Jefferson’s mother drove by with his aunt.
I find Jefferson’s testimony largely credible, despite his failure during his deposition to remember the stop to which he testified at the hearing.
3. Expert Testimony Regarding UF-250 Forms
Plaintiffs’ expert witness, Dr. Jeffrey Fagan, is a criminologist with expertise in statistics.
Dr. Fagan ultimately concluded that the NYPD recorded 1,663 stops outside a Clean Halls building in the Bronx in 2011 based only on a suspicion of trespass, and without observing any indoor behavior.
Defendants offer a number of arguments against Dr. Fagan’s conclusions. First, they argue that it is impossible to conclude whether reasonable suspicion existed for a stop based on a UF-250 alone because “it is a conclusory form that does not capture all details, nuances and circumstances that may lead to a stop.”
If defendants believe that such research would have shown that reasonable suspicion existed for some or all of Dr. Fagan’s 1,044 unlawful stops, defendants were free to conduct such research themselves and introduce evidence rebutting Dr. Fagan’s conclusions regarding specific UF-250 forms. Defendants did not.
In any case, even if there are reasons to believe that Dr. Fagan’s exclusive reliance on UF-250s led to inaccuracies, the inaccuracies generally favored defendants, not plaintiffs. UF-250s present a one-sided picture of a stop: they are completed not by neutral third parties, or with the cooperation of the stopped person, but by officers who have obvious incentives to justify the stops they have made.
In light of the above, I reject defendants’ contention that the sole reliance on UF-250 forms as a statistical tool provides a categoricаlly inadequate basis for determining the rough magnitude of unlawful stops in this case. I also find that failures to fill out UF-250 forms likely led to a significant undercounting of both lawful and unlawful stops in Dr. Fagan’s analysis.
Second, defendants attack Dr. Fagan’s analysis based on his failure to take account of a field on the UF-250 labeled “Period of Observation Prior To Stop.”
On the other hand, there is some validity to defendants’ argument that Dr. Fagan’s method might have failed to exclude stops based wholly or in part on observations of indoor behavior, despite Dr. Fagan’s attempt to exclude these stops.
Nonetheless, defendants have failed to show why it was necessary for Dr. Fagan to exclude all stops involving the observation of indoor behavior in the first place. An outdoor stop based on the observation of unsuspicious indoor behavior may be just as unconstitutional, and just as potentially relevant to establishing a pattern of unlawful trespass stops outside Clean Halls buildings,
Third, defendants criticize Dr. Fagan for having departed from methods he used to analyze UF-250 forms in Davis and Floyd
Furthermore, it would be entirely understandable if the application of the method from Floyd to the instant case resulted in a lower count of unlawful stops than the method Dr. Fagan used here. The explanation for such a discrepancy is apparent. Dr. Fagan used more conservative assumptions throughout Floyd than in the instant case, and with valid reason.
Fourth, defendants persuasively note that Dr. Fagan’s analysis, standing alone, does not provide a convincing methodology for establishing a causal nexus between the Clean Halls program and the stops that Dr. Fagan analyzed.
Professor Fagan’s methodology, by its very nature, cannot distinguish between whatever impact Clean Halls may have had on the pattern of Terry stops in the Bronx [and] the impact other factors ... might have had on that same pattern .... [I]t would be invalid to conclude that Professor Fagan has demonstrated that the Clean Halls program itself, and its implementation, caused the outcomes Professor Fagan observes and the Plaintiffs challenge.258
In essence, Dr. Fagan selected a set of stops from the UF-250 database based on several selection criteria — the stops had to be in the Bronx, on suspicion of trespass only, at the location of a Clean Halls address, outside, and so on
Fifth, defendants challenge the methods and assumptions Dr. Fagan followed in processing the information contained on UF-250 forms into conclusions regarding the number of unlawful stops.
Based on the testimony of plaintiffs and others, the decline to prosecute forms, and the statistical analysis performed by Dr. Fagan and discussed in greater detail below, I find that plaintiffs have shown a clear likelihood of laying a sufficient factual foundation to prove that defendants have engaged in a widespread practice of making unlawful trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx.
TAP began in the early 1990s in Manhattan.
Defendants were unable to produce a single written policy or procedure governing any aspect of TAP between the program’s origins in the early 1990s and the issuance of two orders in 2012, discussed below.
1. NYPD Recognition of a Problem in TAP
The improvements to TAP in 2012 had their roots in earlier years. Inspector Kerry Sweet, the executive officer of the NYPD Legal Bureau, testified that by early 2010, he had become involved in a group that was examining vertical patrols and trespass issues in NYCHA buildings.
[O]fficers believe their role might have been as doorman [or] custodian, rather than a strict application of De Bout. And once again, understanding that they needed that articulate reason to approach somebody and that if you were a doorman, you could approach everybody, but that is not the case.... [I]n TAP buildings, you have to have a reason to approach people.
I wasn’t getting the sense necessarily that they were stopping people in their tracks, but they may have been asking everybody coming into a building, what are you doing here, what is your reason for being here. And that obviously isn’t what we want them to do nor is it probably the right thing to do under the De Bour standard.281
Inspector Sweet testified that Katherine Lemire, special counsel to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, attended meetings with Inspector Sweet where this problem was discussed.
2. Interim Orders 22 and 23 of 2012
After completing the focus groups in 2010 and 2011, Inspector Sweet helped to draft two new regulations to govern the TAP program: Interim Orders (“IOs”) 22 and 23, both published in May 2012.
A uniformed member of the service may approach and question persons if they [sic] have an objective credible reason to do so. However, a uniformed member may not stop (temporarily detain) a suspected trespasser unless the uniformed member reasonably suspects that the person is in the building without authorization,286
When reasonable suspicion exists, a STOP, QUESTION AND FRISK REPORT WORKSHEET shall be prepared as per P.G. 212-11, “Stop and Frisk.” Some factors which may contribute to “reasonable suspicion” that a person is trespassing, in addition to those factors set forth in P.G. 212-11, “Stop and Frisk, ” are contradictory assertions made to justify presence in the building and/or assertions lacking credibility made to justify presence in the building.287
The section continues by stating that a trespass arrest requires probable cause, and that refusal to answer questions is insufficient to establish probable cause.
As plaintiffs correctly note, however, 10 22 of 2012 makes no reference to stops outside TAP buildings.
At the hearing, defendants offered evidence of numerous steps that have been taken to support the implementation of IOs 22 and 23 of 2012.
Many of these steps are peripheral to the concerns of this case. The video and the Training Guide, for example, deal with stop and frisk in general, and make no specific reference to trespass stops outside TAP buildings.
3. Absence of Steps Meaningfully Addressing Outdoor TAP Stops
During the hearing, defendants emphasized the training that officers receive throughout their careers regarding the laws governing stop and frisk in geneml.
The root problem that led to unlawful trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx, however, based on ADA Ruck-er’s testimony and the other evidence introduced at the hearing, is that officers perceived trespass stops in the proximity of TAP buildings as exceptions to the general rules governing stop and frisk. Improving the training surrounding stop and frisk in general may do nothing to dispel the notion that there is an exception for stops outside TAP buildings.
IO 22 of 2012 makes clear that presence inside a TAP building is not a sufficient basis for a stop, and that stops made during vertical patrols of TAP buildings must be based on reasonable suspicion. But IO 22 of 2012 and the training introduced in support of it present themselves as guides to conducting vertical patrols inside a TAP building, not guides for mаking trespass stops and arrests outside TAP buildings. The difference may seem insignificant when viewed in the abstract. In theory, officers should be able to infer from the rules in IO 22 of 2012 how to perform lawful trespass stops outside TAP buildings.
In practice, however, the evidence at the hearing suggests that NYPD officers are trained to carry out their duties according to a set of standard operating procedures. The NYPD’s training reduces the unpredictable, confusing challenges that arise on patrol to a manageable set of standard situations and orderly procedures for ad
In fact, based on the evidence at the hearing, the only piece of instruction that has been provided to officers on a systematic basis and that specifically targets the problem of outdoor trespass stops at TAP buildings is a single bullet point included in a PowerPoint presentation offered by the Legal Bureau as part of the Rodman’s Neck training.
Observation of an individual exiting a NYCHA/TAP Building, without more, is not an objective, credible reason to approach that individual.308
As common sense would suggest, and evidence at the hearing confirmed, attendees at the Rodman’s Neck training do not always absorb the lesson contained in this bullet point, or even recall having seen it. One officer who had recently attended the refresher course at Rodman’s Neck testified that he did not remember any discussion of TAP,
In light of the above, and in the absence of reliable statistics regarding stops in 2012, I find that defendants failed to introduce persuasive evidence regarding whether the improvements undertaken by the
V. DISCUSSION
A. Standing
As a preliminary matter, defendants argue that plaintiffs lack standing to seek injunctive relief.
Abdullah Turner testified to two specific unlawful trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx, and J.G. and Jovan Jefferson both referred to having been stopped multiple times outside TAP buildings.
Plaintiffs seek a variety of injunctive remedies that would require the NYPD to act in ways that depart from the status quo, including the development and implementation of new formal policies, new training procedures, and burdensome new supervisory and monitoring procedures.
The following sections address each of these factors in turn.
1. Clear or Substantial Likelihood of Success on the Merits
Because plaintiffs do not assert that defendants have an explicit or formally approved policy of making trespass stops without reasonable suspicion outside TAP buildings in the Bronx, plaintiffs must show a clear or substantial likelihood of proving at trial that defendants have a custom or usage of making such stops. Specifically, plaintiffs argue that defendants “have a pattern and practice” of making unlawful trespass stops outside TAP buildings, and that “the City of New York has been deliberately indifferent” to this practice “by failing to supervise and train.”
My analysis of plaintiffs’ claim proceeds in two steps. First, I analyze plaintiffs’ deliberate indifference claim and conclude that plaintiffs have shown a clear likelihood of establishing that defendants’ longstanding failure to train officers regarding the legal standards for trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx, despite actual or constructive notice that this omission was causing city employees to violate individuals’ constitutional rights, has risen to the level of deliberate indifference. Whether plaintiffs’ deliberate indifference claim is analyzed in terms of the general standard in Connick, the three-part Walker standard, or the constructive acquiescence standard, plaintiffs have shown a clear likelihood of success on their Monell claim. Second, I analyze whether defendants have rebutted plaintiffs’ evidence of deliberate indifference based on the steps taken by the NYPD in 2012. I conclude that these steps have not meaningfully addressed the specific problem of unconstitutional trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx.
a. Deliberate Indifference
Applying the law of Terry stops to my findings of fact, above, plaintiffs offered
i. ADA Rucker’s Testimony
As described above, ADA Rucker credibly testified that NYPD officers have treated proximity to a TAP building as a factor contributing to reasonable suspicion, and have frequently made trespass stops outside TAP buildings for no reason other than that the officer had seen someone enter and exit or exit the building.
ii. Plaintiffs’ Stops
The conclusion that the NYPD has repeatedly made trespass stops outside TAP buildings without reasonable suspicion is further supported by the credible and mutually corroborating testimony of named plaintiffs regarding the circumstances leading to their encounters with police.
Bradley was stopped when an officer in a van gestured for him to come over, he came over, and the officer asked “What are you doing here?”
No reasonable person would have felt free to leave in these plaintiffs’ circumstances once an officer or officers approached, caused the plaintiff to stop through a command, gesture, accusatory introduction, or by taking possession of the person’s property, and then began asking questions that were clearly intended to elicit incriminating responses regarding trespassing.
Any doubt that these plaintiffs were free to leave after the commencement of intrusive investigatory questioning is resolved by looking to the instances in the decline to prosecute forms when suspects attempted to terminate their encounters. In one encounter, “the defendant attempted to walk away[,] at which time [the officer] grabbed the defendant[’]s arms.”
Second, all but two of the eleven encounters to which plaintiffs testified appear to have been based on suspicion of trespass, but lacked the reasonable suspicion of trespass needed to support a Terry stop. The two exceptions are Jerome Grant’s stop and Letitia Ledan’s second encounter.
iii. Decline to Prosecute Forms
There remains the question of how widespread the practice of unlawful stops was. Plaintiffs argue that the decline to prosecute forms independently support the finding of a widespread practice of unlawful stops outside of TAP buildings.
Assuming as I do that the decline to prosecute forms contain largely accurate descriptions of stops, plaintiffs’ reasoning is persuasive. If anything, plaintiffs undercount the number of suspicionless stops suggested by the decline to prosecute forms. Dr. Smith’s thirteen percent figure is the arrest rate for all the trespass stops outside TAP buildings in Dr. Fagan’s study, including both stops based on and stops lacking reasonable suspicion.
iv. Dr. Fagan’s Analysis
Dr. Fagan’s analysis of the UF-250 database provides further evidence that plaintiffs have a clear likelihood of being able to prove at trial that the NYPD’s practice of unlawful stops was widespread. In order to understand Dr. Fagan’s claim that 1,044 trespass stops within his set apparently lacked reasonable suspicion, it is necessary to understand the basic features of a UF-250 form.
The UF-250 form has two sides.
In an appendix to Dr. Fagan’s report, he lists the combinations of factors from UF-250 forms that he counted as indicative of a stop apparently lacking reasonable suspicion of trespass.
The most frequent combination of stop factors identified by Dr. Fagan as apparently inadequate were “Furtive Movements” (Side 1) and “Area Has High Incidence Of Reported Offense Of Type Under Investigation” (Side 2), referred to in Dr. Fagan’s shorthand as the “High Crime Area” box.
Of the 1,044 trespass stops that Dr. Fagan identified as apparently unlawful, 503 were based on the ten most frequent combinations of stop factors.
1) “Furtive Movements.”
2) “Other Reasonable Suspicion Of Criminal Activity (Specify)” (the “Other” box), and a text string referring to “Clean Halls,” “Trespass,” or both as the sole notation.363
3) The “Other” box and words indicating the suspect was observed exiting the building.364
Second, on Side 2, under “Additional Circumstances/Factors,” the officer either checked no box, or offered one of the following five justifications:
1) High Crime Area.
2) “Time Of Day, Day Of Week, Season Corresponding To Reports Of Criminal Activity” (the “Time of Day” box).
3) Both High Crime Area and Time of Day.
4) “Proximity To Crime Location” (the “Proximity to Scene” box).
5) “Changing Direction At Sight Of Officer/Flight” (the “Change Direction” box).
Standing alone, Dr. Fagan’s categorizations leave a great deal of room for skepticism. The Supreme Court has “recognized that nervous, evasive behavior is a pertinent factor in determining reasonable suspicion.”
On the other hand, there are good reasons to doubt that most, or even many, of the forms marked with the combinations listed above were in fact based on such suspicious behavior. First, many of the 503 forms in the top ten on Dr. Fagan’s list contain stop factor combinations providing no basis whatsoever for reasonable suspicion. 205 of these forms simply indicate that the person was stopped outside a Clean Halls building, or for criminal trespass, neither of which explains why the officer’s suspicion was reasonable; or that the person was observed exiting, which also contributes nothing to reasonable suspicion; and that the stop took place in a high crime area and/or at a suspicious time of day, neither of which can establish reasonable suspicion in the absence of some additional contributing factor.
Second, Dr. Fagan reported that in his original universe of stops, officers had checked the Other box on nearly forty percent of the UF-250 forms.
Third, as Dr. Fagan notes, when police officers are in an area where they are primed to look for signs that “crime is afoot,” they may be more likely to perceive a gesture as an indicator of criminality.
Dr. Fagan raised further doubts in Floyd regarding the general validity of assuming reasonable suspicion based on Furtive Movements.
Defendants attack the accuracy of Dr. Fagan’s categorization scheme in various ways.
Rather than addressing each of these claims individually, it is enough to note that even if the one hundred forty-three stops involving observation periods over two minutes, the thirty-six stops with contestable text strings, and the forty-one stops with both Furtive Movements and Ongoing Investigations marked were excluded from Dr. Fagan’s grand total of 1,044 unlawful stops, the total would still show that out of the 1,663 stops in Dr. Fagan’s revised set of trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx in 2011, over eight hundred (824) were unconstitutional. That is, even if defendants’ arguments on these points are accepted — and I am not convinced that they should be — Dr. Fagan’s report would still show that on hundreds of occasions in the Bronx in 2011, people were stopped without basis outside of TAP buildings, in violation of their rights under the U.S. Constitution, and required to answer questions from an officer with the power to arrest them if they answered incorrectly.
The essential fact, sufficiently established by Dr. Fagan’s analysis when viewed in combination with the other evidence discussed above, is that a very large number of constitutional violations took place outside TAP buildings in the Bronx in 2011. Whether the percentage of trespass stops that were unconstitutional was thirty or sixty, and whether one assumes that officers failed to fill out UF-250s ten, twenty, or fifty percent of the time, plaintiffs have succeeded in showing a clear likelihood that they will be able to prove that the City of New York and its agents displayed deliberate indifference toward the violation of the constitutional rights of hundreds and more likely thousands of individuals prior to 2012.
v. Notice to Defendants
By 2011 city policymakers were on actual notice of a practice of unconstitutional trespass stops by city employees outside TAP buildings in the Bronx
vi. Legal Analysis
Deliberate indifference is “a stringent standard of fault,”
Based on the conclusions above, plaintiffs have shown a clear likelihood of proving deliberate indifference under any of the prevailing ways of framing that standard. Stated in terms of Connick’s general standard for failure-to-train claims, plaintiffs have shown a clear likelihood of proving that city policymakers were on actual notice by 2011, and constructive notice prior to then, that the failure to train NYPD officers regarding the legal standard for trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx was causing city employees to violate the constitutional rights of a large number of individuals.
In fact, plaintiffs presented some evidence suggesting that the practice of making stops outside TAP buildings without regard for reasonable suspicion might have been “so persistent and widespread as to practically have the force of law.”
b. Failure to Rebut Deliberate Indifference Claim Based on Steps Taken by NYPD in 2012
Defendants spent a great deal of time at the hearing introducing evidence concerning steps the NYPD took in 2012 to improve TAP and provide training regarding stop and frisk practices.
The Rodman’s Neck bullet point is plainly insufficient to rebut plaintiffs’ showing of a clear likelihood of success on the merits of their deliberate indifference claim. Nor did defendants provide reliable statistics regarding stops in 2012 that might have rebutted plaintiffs’ claim. Defendants have provided no evidence that the NYPD has ceased its practice of making unlawful trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx.
The evidence introduced by defendants of broader reforms to TAP and stop and frisk undertaken by the NYPD in 2012 also does not rebut plaintiffs’ case that city policymakers have displayed deliberate indifference to an ongoing practice of constitutional violations by city employees based on unlawful stops outside TAP buildings. To the contrary, many of the training materials introduced by defendants may serve to further entrench the problem of these unconstitutional stops. In some cases, defendants’ introduction of training materials not only failed to rebut plaintiffs’ case, but made plaintiffs’ case stronger.
Most strikingly, within the last year the NYPD has produced a video on stop and frisk that has now been shown in every precinct.
Your authority to conduct a Stop Question and Frisk encounter is limited to public places within the City of New York.... A forcible stop can take many different forms. It can be constructive in nature, such as using verbal commands or blocking a subject’s path. Or it could be an actual stop, such as grabbing or holding the subject.
The courts will look to an officer’s actions in making this determination. They consider: if the officer’s gun was drawn; if the person was physically prevented from moving; the number and tone of verbal commands; the content of the commands; the number of officers present; and the location of the encounter.
Usually just verbal commands, such as STOP, POLICE!!!, will not constitute a seizure. However, a verbal command, plus other actions may be considered a seizure — other actions, such as: using*535 physical force to subdue a suspect; physically blocking a suspect’s path; grabbing a suspect by the arm, shirt or coat; pointing a gun at a suspect; using an ASP or baton to contain a suspect; or placing a suspect against a wall or on the ground.404
This misstates the law. It is incorrect in its specific claim that if an officer yelled “STOP, POLICE!!!” and the person stopped, the result would not “[u]sually” constitute a Terry stop.
The video is also incorrect in its more general suggestion that an officer must deploy something resembling physical force or the threat of such force in order for an encounter to constitute a stop. It is true that Terry stops are sometimes referred to as “forcible stops.”
The Second Circuit held more than twenty years ago, in a case that remains good law, that the following factors are indicative of a “seizure,” which can mean either an arrest or a Terry stop:
the threatening presence of several officers; the display of a weapon; the physical touching of the person by the officer; language or tone indicating that compliance with the officer was compulsory; prolonged retention of a person’s personal effects, such as airplane tickets or identification; and a request by the officer to accompany him to the police station or a police room.413
Because the yelled command “STOP, POLICE!!!” contains both language and a tone indicating that compliance is compulsory, the NYPD’s video is incorrect to suggest that other actions would usually be required for an encounter to constitute a Terry stop. Indeed, some of the “other actions” described by the NYPD’s video— “using physical force to subdue a suspect; physically blocking a suspect’s path; grabbing a suspect by the arm, shirt or coat; pointing a gun at a suspect; using an ASP or baton to contain a suspect; or placing a suspect against a wall or on the ground”
By raising the Terry bar above where it was set by the Second Circuit, the NYPD trains its officers that they do not need reasonable suspicion to engage in conduct that the Second Circuit would identify as sufficiently coercive to qualify as a Terry stop. In other words, the NYPD’s video, which was produced in 2012, which has now been seen by nearly every officer in the patrol bureau, and which defendants continue to present as a sign of their lack of deliberate indifference,
The Chief of Patrol Field Training Unit Program Guide, which is distributed to supervisors in Operation IMPACT,
A lesson on TAP that was added to the Guide in 2012 similarly reflects a model of policing in which the investigative questioning of suspects routinely precedes rather them follows reasonable suspicion:
A uniformed member of the service may not stop (temporarily detain) a suspected trespasser unless the uniformed member reasonably suspects that the person is in the building without authority.... Some factors which may contribute to “reasonable suspicion” that a person is trespassing ... are contradictory assertions made to justify presence in the building and/or assertions lacking credibility made to justify presence in the building.424
Instead of reasonable suspicion providing a basis for investigative questioning, the NYPD’s training materials suggest that the standard scenario is for investigative questioning to lead to reasonable suspicion. The NYPD Legal Bureau’s PowerPoint presentation at Rodman’s Neck similarly suggests that even when an officer
What is most troubling about these materials is not the suggestion that investigative questioning might under certain circumstances lawfully precede reasonable suspicion, but that it should do so as a matter of course, routinely, as the rule rather than the exception. If the difference between a Terry stop and a less intrusive encounter hinges on indefinite factors such as the demeanor and positioning of the officers; and if it is safe to assume that officers routinely display their authority and power through aggressive behavior, as many of the officers did in their encounters with plaintiffs in the instant case; then a training program that invites officers to approach large numbers of people and question them without reasonable suspicion will inevitably result in frequent Terry stops that lack reasonable suspicion, effectively guaranteeing the commission of widespread constitutional violations. The evidence of numerous unlawful stops at the hearing strengthens the conclusion that the NYPD’s inaccurate training has taught officers the following lesson: stop and question first, develop reasonable suspicion later.
The NYPD’s training failures may also help to explain why no UF-250s were located for any of the plaintiffs in the instant case. Based on training materials like those above, the officers who stopped plaintiffs may very well have perceived themselves as not engaged in Terry stops at all, but in something less intrusive. The NYPD Legal Bureau’s PowerPoint presentation at Rodman’s Neck continues to encourage this belief, and the constitutional violations that will naturally follow from it, by redefining the standards for stops and arrests. Thus, the final slide on arrests states: “If you are at probable cause, you have made an arrest.”
In response to criticisms directed at the NYPD’s training materials, defendants have argued that the materials reflect New
2. Irreparable Harm
In addition to showing a clear likelihood of success on the merits, plaintiffs have the burden of showing that they are “likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief.”
While I have not yet ruled on plaintiffs’ motion, “[i]t is well established that ‘[cjertain circumstances give rise to the need for prompt injunctive relief for a named plaintiff or on behalf of a class’ and that the ‘court may conditionally certify the class or otherwise award a broad preliminary injunction, without a formal class ruling, under its general equity powers.’ ”
3. Balance of Equities
In order to qualify for a preliminary injunction, plaintiffs must show “that the balance of equities tips in [their] favor.”
I do not take lightly the burden on defendants of altering NYPD policies and training procedures. It is partly out of concern for defendants’ hardships that I have rejected some of plaintiffs’ proposed remedies.
The right to physical liberty has long been at the core of our nation’s commitment to respecting the autonomy and dignity of each person: “No right is held more sacred, or is more carefully guarded, by the common law, than the right of every individual to the possession and control of his own person, free from all restraint or interference of others, unless by clear and unquestionable authority of law.”442
Eliminating the threat that the kinds of stops described by plaintiffs might occur at any moment, without legal justification, in the vicinity of one’s home and the homes of one’s friends and family, is itself an important interest deserving of judicial protection.
Equally important are the potential consequences of an unlawful stop. The stakes of “field interrogation”
4. Public Interest
Any preliminary injunction must be “in the public interest.”
Because any member of the public could conceivably find herself outside a TAP building in the Bronx, the public at large has a liberty and dignity interest in bringing an end to the practice of unconstitutional stops at issue in this case. Even if the constitutional violations described by plaintiffs were confined to the members of a discrete community, the public has a clear interest in protecting the constitutional rights of all its members. At the same time, enforcing constitutional restrictions on the NYPD’s ability to stop and potentially frisk people outside TAP buildings could conceivably inhibit the NYPD’s ability to provide security to the residents of those buildings and their communities.
In light of these considerations, and taking account of all the evidence presented at the hearing, I find that the public interest lies with the enforcement of the Constitution. It is “ ‘clear and plain’ ”
C. Appropriate Scope of Injunctive Relief
Injunctive relief “ ‘should be narrowly tailored to fit specific legal viola
In light of these considerations, as well as the findings of fact and conclusions of law detailed above, I impose the following preliminary relief:
1. Immediate Relief
The NYPD is ordered immediately to cease performing trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx without reasonable suspicion of trespass, in accordance with the law as set forth and clarified in this Opinion.
In order for an officer to have “reasonable suspicion” that an individual is engaged in criminal trespass, the officer must be able to articulate facts providing “a minimal level of objective justification for making the stop,”
2. Proposed Additional Relief
In addition to the immediate relief ordered above, I propose to enter the preliminary relief described under the following subheadings. I present this relief as a proposal for two reasons. First, the parties in Ligón had little opportunity to argue and present evidence at the preliminary injunction hearing concerning the appropriate scope of relief. Second, the preliminary relief I propose is similar though not identical to the relief sought by plaintiffs in the Floyd action, where I have already certified a city-wide class of plaintiffs alleging that they have or will be victims of unconstitutional stops. Floyd is scheduled for trial on March 11, 2013. As part of the proof in that case, plaintiffs intend to present evidence regarding the remedies they seek.
Because of the rapidly approaching trial date in Floyd and the inefficiency of hearing separate arguments regarding the closely related remedies at issue in Ligón and Floyd, I am ordering the consolidation of the remedies hearing in the instant case with the remedies portion of the Floyd trial. Thus, the relief proposed under the subheadings below will not take effect until the parties in this case have had the opportunity to participate in a hearing at which they may present evidence or argument as to whether the proposed relief is insufficient or too burdensome or otherwise inappropriate, as well as regarding the appropriate timeline for relief. This remedy hearing will be held in conjunction with the Floyd trial, following the phase of the trial dealing with proof of liability.
a.Policies and Procedures
The NYPD is ordered to develop and adopt a formal written policy specifying the limited circumstances in which it is legally permissible to stop a person outside a TAP building on a suspicion of trespass. The policy must reflect the fact that trespass stops outside TAP buildings are governed not only by New York state law, but by the Fourth Amendment. Guidance in drafting this policy should be drawn from the legal discussion found in this Opinion.
A draft of the written policy governing trespass stops outside TAP buildings shall be provided to the Court (or a monitor appointed by the Court) for approval prior to distribution, with a copy to plaintiffs’ counsel.
b.Supervision
First, the City is ordered to take all necessary steps to ensure that UF-250s are completed for every trespass stop outside a TAP building in the Bronx. Again, a “stop” in the relevant sense is defined as any police encounter in which a reasonable person would not feel free to terminate the encounter.
Second, the City is ordered to implement a system of review modeled on the one ordered by Chief Hall in paragraph 3 of Exhibit E. Supervisory personnel in each Bronx precinct must review, on a quarterly basis, each UF-250 completed for a trespass stop outside a TAP building in the Bronx. To the extent that such review reveals nonconformity with the formal written policy described above, the City will take specific steps to retrain the officer. The results of these reviews and any retraining will be periodically reported to the relevant precinct commander, a designated member of the Bronx Borough Command, a designated member of the Chief of Patrol’s Office, and plaintiffs’ counsel. Copies of all reviewed UF-250s shall be provided to plaintiffs’ counsel,
c.Training
The City is ordered to revise the NYPD’s training materials and training programs to conform with the law as set forth in this Opinion. The instruction must be sufficient to uproot the longstanding misconceptions that have afflicted TAP in the Bronx. It must include, but need not be limited to, the following reforms: (1) The formal written policy governing trespass stops outside TAP buildings, described above, must be distributed to each Bronx NYPD member, and then redistributed two additional times at six-month intervals. (2) The stop and frisk refresher course at Rodman’s Neck must be altered to incorporate instruction specifically targeting the problem of unconstitutional trespass stops outside TAP buildings. Whether the instruction includes additional slides, role-playing, or exams, it must be sufficient to convey to all officers who attend the course that reasonable suspicion of trespass is required before making a trespass stop outside a TAP building. Training regarding these stops must also be provided to new recruits and to officers who have already attended the Rodman’s Neck refresher course and are not scheduled to do so again. (3) Chapter 16 of the Chief of Patrol Field Training Guide must be revised to reflect the formal written policy governing trespass stops outside TAP buildings described above. (4) SQF Training Video No. 5 must be revised to conform with the law as set forth in this Opinion. I recognize that this step, like some of the others above, will involve alterations to training materials used outside the Bronx and outside the context of TAP.
Drafts of the written or scripted training materials described above shall be provided to the Court (or a monitor appointed by the Court) for approval prior to use, with a copy to plaintiffs’ counsel.
d. Attorneys’ Fees
Reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs will be rewarded as appropriate, on application.
In closing, I stress that my conclusions in this Opinion are based on the limited evidence presented at the preliminary injunction hearing. It could be the case that the development and implementation of IOs 22 and 23 of 2012, as well as the changes to NYPD training in 2012, have resolved the problem of unconstitutional trespass stops outside TAP buddings in the Bronx. Because these changes were so recent, however, and so late in the two-decade history of TAP, they were insufficient to rebut plaintiffs’ evidence at the hearing of defendants’ deliberate indifference to a practice of unсonstitutional stops. At any time that defendants develop persuasive evidence, supported by reliable statistics, that unconstitutional trespass stops are no longer taking place outside TAP buildings in the Bronx, defendants may move for the dissolution of this preliminary injunction and the proposed relief.
VI. CONCLUSION
For the reasons explained above, plaintiffs’ motion is granted, although the full extent of the relief has not yet been determined.
SO ORDERED.
APPENDIX A
Excerpts from Decline to Prosecute Affidavits:
1. The Arresting Officer observed the defendant exit the lobby of ... a Clean Halls Apartment Building, and asked defendant, why were you in the building? Defendant stated in sum and substance: VISITING A FRIEND. The Arresting Officer then observed defendant to have a white powdery substance on his nose ... however, the amount was too small to field test or recover.
The Arresting Officer arrested Defendant and charged him with violating New York State Penal Law section 140.15 (Criminal Trespass). However, the Arresting Officer failed to ask defendant [redacted] you know anyone in the building; if so, what is the person’s name and apartment number.
2. [T]he defendants were observed exiting a clean halls building. The defendants stated that they were there to visit a tenant. ... After being arrested a tenant from the building did corroborate the defendant’s statements and the tenant stated that both defendants were in the building as his guests.
3. The Arresting Officer ... observed defendant exiting the lobby of ... a Clean Halls Apartment Building. The Arresting Officer ... approached the defendant and asked the defendant do you live in the building and defendant stated in sum and substance: NO. The Arresting Officer further asked the defendant what apartment
5. Defendants entered ... a clean halls building, and exited. Defendant was stopped outside of the location. When the arresting officer questioned the defendant, defendant stated, in sum and substance, I’M JUST CHILLING. Defendant did not admit that he was in the location. [The defendant was then arrested for trespass.]
6. [A]rresting officer ... observed the defendant enter and exit the lobby of ... a Clean Halls Apartment Building, asked defendant does he live there and defendant did not respond. The arresting officer then asked the defendant if he knows anyone in the apartment and defendant did not respond. Arresting officer then asked defendant what was he doing in the building and defendant stated in sum and substance I WASN’T THERE TO BUY DRUGS. [The defendant was then arrested for trespass.]
7. Arresting Officer observed the defendant enter and exit the lobby of ... a Clean Halls Apartment building, and asked defendant do you live in the building, do you know anyone in the building, what are you doing in the building, to which defendant stated in sum and substance: NO, NO, I WAS INSIDE FOR A COUPLE OF MINUTES MAKING A PHONE CALL. [The defendant was then arrested for trespass.]
8. Arresting Officer ... observed both defendants exit the lobby of ... a Clean Halls Apartment Building and asked defendants what was their purpose inside of said building and defendant [redacted] stated in sum and substance: I WAS VISITING MY COUSIN [redacted] IN [redacted] but defendant [redacted] remained silent. [Another officer] entered the building to investigate further, however, the arresting officer was unable to articulate how [the other officer] disproved [the speaking defendant’s] claim. [Both defendants were arrested for trespass.]
9. Police Officer ... observed the defendant exiting the lobby of ... a Clean Halls Apartment Building and asked defendant whether he lived in the building and defendant stated in sum and substance: NO. [The officer] then asked the defendant, were you visiting anyone in the building, and defendant stаted in sum and substance: YES. [The officer] then asked the defendant for the name of the person he was visiting and the apartment number and defendant stated in sum and substance: I DON’T KNOW. [The defendant was then arrested for trespass.]
10. Arresting Officer observed the defendant enter and exit the lobby of ... a Clean Halls Building, and radioed defendant’s description. Arresting Officer’s partner asked defendant why did you go into the building, do you know anyone in the building, to which defendant stated in
11. [T]he arresting officer observed the defendant enter into [a Clean Halls building] and exit after approximately five (5) minutes....
... The defendant was not observed in an area of the building that is not open to the public such as the hallways, lobby and stairwells. [The defendant was arrested for trespass.]
12. [A police officer] observed the defendant enter a Clean Halls Building and exit moments later.... [Wjhen the defendant exited the building, [the officer] asked the defendant if he lived in the building, to which the defendant stated in sum and substance, NO.... [The officer] did not ask the defendant if he was a guest of a tenant in the building.... [T]he defendant attempted to walk away at which time [the officer] grabbed the defendant[’]s arms, and the defendant pulled away. [A struggle ensued, and the defendant was then arrested in part for trespass.]
13. [T]he defendants entered a Clean Halls building, stayed there approximately five minutes, and then left. The arresting officer stopped the defendants and asked them where they were coming from. The defendants replied, in sum and substance, WE’RE COMING FROM ... WE’RE COMING FROM ..., and could not provide a name or apartment number. The officer placed both defendants under arrest and searched them.
14. The Arresting Officer observed the defendant exit the lobby of ... a Clean Halls Apartment Building, approached defendant and asked, Do you live in the building?, defendant stated in sum and substance: NO. The Arresting Officer then asked the defendant, Do you know anyone in the building?, defendant stated in sum and substance: YES, A FRIEND. The Arresting Officer then asked the defendant, What’s your friend’s name? What apartment does your friend live in?, defendant stated in sum and substance: I DON’T KNOW HIS NAME. HE’S IN [redacted]. The Arresting Officer went to [redacted] however, the apartment was unoccupied, and as a result, the Arresting Officer was unable to locate anyone who could verify defendant’s claim. [The defendant was then arrested for trespass.]
15. The Arresting Officer observed the defendant exit the lobby of ... a Clean Halls Apartment Building and [another officer] approached defendant on the sidewalk and asked defendant, Do you live in the building?, and defendant stated in sum and substance: NO. [The officer] asked defendant, What was your reason for being in the building?, and defendant stated in sum and substance: LOOKING FOR A GIRL. [The officer] then asked the defendant, What’s the name of the girl?, and defendant refused to provide an answer to the aforementioned question. [The defendant was then arrested for trespass.]
16. Arresting Officer observed the defendant enter and exit the lobby of ... a clean halls Building. [The defendant was then arrested for trespass.] However, arresting Officer could not obtain a clean halls affidavit.
17. [I]n front of ... a Clean Halls building, [the arresting officer] observed defendant and several unapprehended individuals exit the lobby.... [The officer] approached defendant and asked defendant if he knew anyone in above-mentioned location and defendant stated in sum and substance: NO. I’M JUST LOOKING FOR MY FRIEND [redacted], NO [redacted] DOESN’T LIVE HERE. [The defendant was then arrested for trespass.]
Arresting officer asked defendant what he was doing in the building and defendant stated in sum and substance I WAS IN THE BUILDING LOOKING FOR WORK. Arresting officer asked defendant what kind of work he was looking for and defendant stated in sum and substance I WAS LOOKING FOR MY FRIEND [redacted]. Arresting officer asked defendant where his friend lived and defendant stated in sum- and substance I DON’T KNOW WHERE HE LIVES. [The defendant was then arrested for trespass.]
19. Arresting officer observed defendant enter ... a clean halls building and observed defendant exit said building. Arresting officer approached and asked defendant, what were you doing in the building and defendant stаted in sum and substance: I WAS THERE TO VISIT A FRIEND. I DON’T KNOW WHAT APARTMENT THEY LIVE IN. [The officer then searched the defendant, found crack-cocaine and a pipe, and arrested defendant in part for trespass.]
20. The arresting officer ... observed defendant exiting the lobby of ... a Clean Halls Apartment Building. The arresting officer stopped defendant and defendant clenched his fists on his sides and spread his feet apart and ... stated in sum and substance YOU’RE NOT GOING TO TOUCH ME. YOU’RE NOT GOING TO TOUCH ME. YOU’RE NOT PUTTING YOUR HANDS ON ME. [The arresting officer then handcuffed defendant and placed him in the patrol vehicle.]
21. [Defendant was observed entering the above location, a Clean Halls Apartment building, and was also observed exiting said location minutes later. Arresting police officer ... asked defendant if he lived in the building and defendant stated in sum and substance, I’M NOT THERE, I’M IN [redacted]. [The defendant was then arrested for trespass.]
22. Arresting Officer observed the defendant exit the lobby of ... a Clean Halls Apartment Building. Arresting officer approached defendant and asked him, do you live in the building, do you know anyone in the building, what apartment does your friend live [in], what is his name[,] to which defendant stated in sum and substance: ... NO I DON’T, YES I’M VISITING MY FRIEND ON THE [redacted] FLOOR, NO I’M NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU MY FRIEND’S NAME. [The officer then patted down the defendant and arrested him in part for trespass.]
23. Arresting officer observed defendant enter ... a clean halls building and observed defendant exit said building. Arresting officer approached and asked defendant, what were you doing in the building and do you know anyone in the building and defendant stated in sum and substance: NO, I DON’T KNOW ANYONE AND I WENT TO BUY DRUGS. [The defendant was then arrested in part for trespass.]
24. The Arresting Officer states that ... he observed defendant exiting ... a Clean Halls Apartment Building. The Arresting Officer approached defendant and asked defendant if he lives in the building and defendant stated in sum and substance: NO. The Arresting Officer further asked the defendant where are you coming from and defendant stated in sum and substance: I’M COMING FROM THE [redacted] FLOOR. The Arresting Officer asked the defendant what apartment are you coming from and defendant stated in sum and substance: I DON’T KNOW THE APARTMENT NUMBER BUT I’LL SHOW IT TO YOU. [The officer went with the defendant to the apartment.
25. Arresting Officer observed the defendant enter and exit the lobby of ... a Clean Halls Building. Arresting Officer told defendant that he observed him enter said building along with separately apprehended [redacted] ... and separately apprehended stated in sum and substance WE WERE IN THE BUILDING. Arresting Officer then asked separately apprehended and defendant what apartment they were visiting, and neither defendant nor separately apprehended provided a response. [The defendant was then arrested for trespass.]
... [T]he Arresting Officer did not observe defendant to go beyond the public vestibule of said building, nor did defendant admit to being inside of said building, beyond the public vestibule.
26. The arresting officer states that ... inside of ... a Clean Halls Building, she observed defendant and separately apprehended [redacted] enter the lobby of said location and exit shortly thereafter. Arresting officer stopped defendant and asked him if he lived in the building and defendant stated in sum and substance I DON’T LIVE IN THE BUILDING. Arresting officer asked defendant what he was doing in the building and defendant stated in sum and substance I WAS WAITING FOR A FRIEND. Arresting officer asked defendant for the name of the person he was waiting for and defendant did not reply. Arresting officer asked defendant for his identification and defendant was unable to produce one at which time arresting officer attempted to handcuff defendant and defendant ran.
Blank UF-250 Form
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Notes
. Floyd v. City of New York, filed in 2008, challenges the NYPD's stop and frisk practices in general, arguing among other things that the NYPD is systematically violating the rights of New York City's residents and visitors under the Fourth Amendment to be free from unreasonable searches, and under the Fourteenth Amendment to be free from discrimination on the basis of race. See Floyd v. City of New York,
. See generally New York Criminal Procedure Law (“CPL”) § 140.50.
. See generally Sibron v. State of New York,
. Id. at 61,
. Id. (quoting Cooper v. State of California,
. See id. (“Our constitutional inquiry would not be furthered here by an attempt to pronounce judgment on the words of the statute. We must confine our review instead to the reasonableness of the searches and seizures which underlie these two convictions.”).
. Id. The Court continued: “Before he places a hand on the person of a citizen in search of anything, he must have constitutionally adequate, reasonable grounds for doing so.” Id.
. See Complaint ¶¶ 11-23.
. See Ligón v. City of New York, No. 12 Civ. 2274,
. See Ligón,
. See Plaintiffs’ Revised Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law ("PL Findings") ¶¶ 64-67, 69-70.
. Transcript of Preliminary Injunction Hearing ("Tr.”) 10/16 at 275:8.
. Id. at 349:1.
. Tr. 10/17 at 444:2.
. Id. at 486:1.
.
. See Memorandum of Law in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction at 21; Pl. Findings ¶¶ 72-75.
. See Tr. 10/15 at 1; Tr. 11/7 at 1282.
. To echo language quoted by Justice Thur-good Marshall, the evidence in this case "has evoked images of other days, under other flags, when no man traveled ... without fear of unwarranted interruption.” Florida v. Bostick,
. UBS Fin. Servs., Inc. v. West Virginia Univ. Hosps., Inc.,
. Winter,
. Red Earth LLC v. United States,
. Rodriguez v. DeBuono,
. See PL Findings ¶¶ 72-75.
. See Compl. ¶¶ 1, 203. 42 U.S.C. § 1983 provides:
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State ... subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress ....
.
. Cash v. County of Erie,
. Connick, 131 S.Ct. at 1359 (citing Monell,
. Cash,
. Connick,
. Cash,
. Sorlucco v. City of New York,
a sufficiently widespread practice among police officers of abuse of the rights of black people to support reasonably the conclusion that such abuse was the custom of the officers of the Department and that supervisory personnel must have been aware of it but took no adequate corrective or preventive measures (or some combination of the two).
Jones,
. Connick,
. Id. (citing Bryan Cty.,
. Cash,
(1) policymaker knows "to a moral certainty” that its employees will confront a given situation; (2) either situation presents employees with difficult choice that will be made less so by training or supervision, or there is a record of employees mishandling situation; and (3) wrong choice by employees will frequently cause deprivation of constitutional rights.
Cash,
. See Maryland v. Pringle,
. U.S. Const, amend. IV.
. United States v. Swindle,
. Davis,
. Illinois v. Wardlow,
. Alabama v. White,
. United States v. Bayless,
. Terry,
. Wardlow,
. Id, (quoting Adams v. Williams,
. United States v. Arvizu,
. United States v. Lee,
. Bostick,
. Brown,
. INS v. Delgado,
. United States v. Simmons,
. See Terry,
. In re Lonique M.,
. N.Y. Penal Law § 140.00.
. People v. Hollman,
. Id. at 184-85,
. Id. at 185,
. See, e.g., People v. Reyes,
. Hollman,
. See, e.g., People v. Hendricks,
. See Hendricks,
. See, e.g., People v. Kojac,
. Plaintiffs introduced testimony regarding eleven stops. See infra Part IV.A.2. All of the stops were of named plaintiffs except the July 2011 stop of non party witness Jerome Grant, a relative of two named plaintiffs. See infra Part IV.A.2.d. For convenience, when making general statements about the personal testimony of stops offered at the hearing, I will often refer to named plaintiffs and non-party witness Jerome Grant collectively as "plaintiffs.”
. See Tr. 10/15 at 168-75.
. See id. at 175:20-22. The Bronx Defenders are co-counsel for plaintiffs in this case.
. See id. at 175:21-25, 176:2-8.
. See id. at 176:9-23.
. See id. at 176:14-177:22, 180:19-181:21; 7/7/11 Letter from ADA Rucker to Deputy Inspector William McSorley ("7/7/11 Rucker Letter”), Plaintiffs' Exhibit ("PI. Ex.”) 6. See also Tr. 10/15 at 184:7-185:17; 7/13/11 Memo from ADA Rucker to ADAs, PL Ex. 7 at 2 (explaining that Bronx DA would decline to prosecute trespass cases where stop was based on nothing more than entry and exit from Clean Halls building).
. SeeTr. 10/15 at 182:11-183:8.
. See id. at 170:12-173:17. Throughout this opinion, for convenience, I will refer to NYPD trainees as “officers,” though in some cases the training involves “recruits.” See Tr. 10/19 at 839:18-24.
. See Defendants’ Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law ("Def. Findings”) ¶¶ 11-14. One case involved an anonymous letter whose author claimed to have been arrested for trespass while leaving a friend’s building with the friend. See Tr. 10/15 at 190:17-20; Tr. 10/16 at 239:1-240:22; 3/13/12 Anonymous Letter to ADA Rucker, Pi. Ex. 11. The other involved a stop inside a Clean Halls building, and was brought to ADA Rucker’s attention by the Bronx Defenders. See Tr. 10/15 at 196:13-198:15; Tr. 10/16 at 241:5-243:2. In the latter case, according to ADA David Grigoryan, who performed an investigation at ADA Rucker's request, the defendant was stopped and questioned for no specified reason at his sister's building, where he was apparently staying, and then the defendant was arrested because he failed to provide his sister’s name or apartment number. See Tr. 10/18 at 609:7-614:19, 617:25-619:9. ADA Grigoryan testified that in his opiniоn this arrest was "absolutely valid.” Id. at 611:14.
. Tr. 10/15 at 176:7-8.
. Id. at 176:10-11.
. Tr. 10/16 at 234:9.
. See id. at 237:13-238:8, 239:11-24, 240:6-7, 243:13-18, 244:6-12. Further support for ADA Rucker’s criticisms can be found in the opinions of New York state courts. See, e.g., Almonte,
. See Tr. 10/16 at 237:13-16. Accord Tr. 10/15 at 202:22-203:20 (ADA Rucker rejecting mischaracterization of her views in 9/6/12 Letter from Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly to Bronx County District Attorney Robert Johnson, PL Ex. 12); Tr. 10/16 at 235:3-7 (ADA Rucker explaining that she had orally conveyed details of other cases to the NYPD).
. See Tr. 10/16 at 246:8-248:14.
. See id. at 222:9-224:2.
. See id. at 213:5-7.
. See PL Findings V 16 n. 1; Tr. 10/16 at 210:17-220:25; Tr. 10/17 at 508:11-509:20; Bronx DA Decline to Prosecute Affidavits ("Decline Prosecute Affs.”), Pl. Ex. 74. Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 74 contains thirty-one forms, but plaintiffs later conceded that only twenty-eight forms expressly identify the building outside of which the stop took place as a TAP building. See PL Findings ¶ 16 n. 2 (referring to Decline Prosecute Affs. at 4425, 5001, 5055). In addition, two of the forms are revisions of other forms. Compare Decline Prosecute Affs. at 2996, 3088, with id. at 3174, 3086.
. ADA Rucker confirmed that the types of cases described in the decline to prosecute forms were, in part, what motivated the
. Def. Findings ¶ 13.
. Neither party attempted to determine whether the stops described in the decline to prosecute forms were recorded in UF-250s.
. See infra Appendix A (“App. A”).
. Decline Prosecute Affs. at 4407, excerpted at App. A ¶ 2.
. Some of the forms describe stops in which an officer eventually obtained probable cause for an arrest. See, e.g., App. A ¶ 23. But the instant case concerns the legal basis for stops, not arrests.
. See infra Part V.B. 1 .a.
. See Tr. 11/7 at 1298:19-22 (defendants' summation).
. Def. Findings ¶ 15.
. Id. (emphasis added). See also Tr. 10/23 at 1113:24-1114:19.
. Tr. 10/23 at 1115:16.
. See Chart by Sgt. Musick ("Musick Chart”), Defendants’ Exhibit ("Def. Ex.”) UU; Tr. 10/23 at 1123:23-1128:11. Officers are required to complete a UF-250 form, also known as a "Stop, Question and Frisk Report Worksheet,” after each stop. See Tr. 10/15 at 67:4-21, 69:24-70:6; Tr. 10/23 at 1110:9-11; UF-250 Form, App. B to 7/27/12 Report of Plaintiffs’ Expert Dr. Jeffrey Fagan ("Fagan Report”), PL Ex. 4. UF-250s are discussed at greater length below. See infra Part V.B.l.a. I have attached a copy of a blank UF-250 form as Appendix B to this Opinion.
. Tr. 10/23 at 1145:1, 1158:19-25.
. See id. at 1153:4-1154:8.
. See id. at 1125-1143.
. See Tr. 10/16 at 257:17-258:22, 259:10-19, 261:1-24, 272:6.
. See id. at 258:23-24, 259:23.
. See Tr. 10/15 at 258:23-260:21.
. See Tr. 10/16 at 260:3-7.
. See id. at 262:4-264:12.
. See id. at 264:14-265:9; Tr. 10/22 at 1079:18-19.
. Tr. 10/16 at 266:3.
. Id. at 266:8.
. Though plaintiffs have not focused their arguments on the legal standard for frisks, I note that a frisk requires an additional justification beyond the reasonable suspicion for the stop. The Supreme Court held in Terry.
[W]here a police officer observes unusual conduct which leads him reasonably to conclude in light of his experience that criminal activity may be afoot and that the persons with whom he is dealing may be armed and presently dangerous; ... he is entitled for the protection of himself and others in the area to conduct a carefully limited search of the outer clothing of such persons in an attempt to discover weapons which might be used to assault him.
Terry,
. Tr. 10/16 at 265:20-22, 266:1-267:17.
. See id. at 267:16-268:1.
. Id. at 268:5-6. Bradley later stated that his experiences on May 3 made him feel "extremely violated, to say the least.” Id. at 275:8.
. See id. at 268:9-25, 269:1, 12-13, 272:3-273:7; 7/7/11 Notarized Letter from Rappa ("Rappa Letter”), PL Ex. 17.
. Tr. 10/16 at 269:2-270:4.
. See Tr. 10/22 at 1076:8-10, 1077:3-11, 1078:16-18, 1079:5-7.
. Id. at 1081:5-6, 1082:24-25.
. Id. at 1082:24.
. Id. at 1086:21-1087:1; Tr. 10/23 at 1097:8-9, 1101:13-15.
. See Tr. 10/22 at 1087:2-11; Tr. 10/23 at 1101:20-25.
. Tr. 10/22 at 1088:15-16.
. See id. at 1088:11-1089:1; Tr. 10/23 at 1097:1-9.
. SeeTr. 10/23 at 1098:11-1099:1.
. See Tr. 10/22 at 1080:23-25; Tr. 10/23 at 1098:19-1099:1.
. SeeTr. 10/23 at 1098:11-1099:1.
. Officer Santiago admitted that by the time he completed the paperwork, he had worked fourteen or fifteen hours straight and was "a little tired.” Id. at 1099:11-12. See also id. at 1105:8-16.
. See 5/3/11 Clean Halls Fact Sheet for Charles Bradley Arrest ("Bradley Fact Sheet”), Pi. Ex. 39.
. See Tr. 10/23 at 1099:17-1100:2. Officer Santiago testified that he was trying to help a landlord friend who was having problems with a tenant, "so I issued two improper summons, one in the bus stop and one in the fire hydrant, and the car was never there.” Id. at 1099:24-1100:2.
. See id. at 1110:9-11.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 472:14-15, 473:9-474:9.
. See id. at 475:8-15; Tr. 10/18 at 622:25-623:4.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 474:13-475:7, 481:23-25.
. See id. at 475:21-476:25.
. Id. at 495:5-18 (Turner’s testimony). Defendants suggest that it is implausible that Turner did not go inside the building, because he knew that the door was unlоcked. See Def. Findings ¶ 23 & n. 11; Tr. 10/17 at 476:7-10. But Turner testified that he liked the cold and did not need a coat. See Tr. 10/17 at 477:2-4. Accord, id. at 487:20-21, 502:5-19. While Turner’s winter-weather clothing choices and apparent tolerance for the cold may be idiosyncratic, they do not undermine his credibility. There is also a facial inconsistency in defendants’ apparent attempt to suggest both that any reasonable person in Turner's circumstances would have entered the building to warm up, and that if Turner did so, he would have provided legal grounds for a Terry stop. A reasonable person would presumably want to avoid being stopped and frisked, and thus would prefer standing in the cold to going inside, if doing so would create a reasonable suspicion of criminal trespass.
. Tr. 10/17 at 477:8. I note that a reasonable person would not feel free to leave when his personal property has been seized by the police.
. Id. at 477:19-23.
. See Tr. 10/22 at 1008:20, 1012:5-25.
. See id. at 1059:11-1061:6; Page from Memobook of Officer Michael Pomerantz, Def. Ex. HHHH.
. SeeTr. 10/17 at 478:13-22, 479:8-11.
. Id. at 479:11-12.
. See id. at 479:12-13.
. See id. at 479:13-24, 480:12-24.
. Id. at 481:1-3.
. See id. at 481:7-25, 482:1-8.
. See id. at 482:21-483:10, 483:14-21.
. Id. at 486:1. Turner continued:
It’s like when you’re a kid, when someone is bothering you or someone is like threatening you, you run to your parents for protection, and when you’re an adult, you're supposed to run to the police. But who are you supposed to run to when like the police are harassing you or like threatening you ..., who are you supposed to run to then?
Id. at 486:3-8.
. See Tr. 10/18 at 619:23-628:6.
. See Tr. 10/22 at 1016:17-1017:14, 1020:11-1021:25.
. Id. at 1021:21-24.
. Officer Ramdeen’s arrest report only states that Turner was inside a Clean Halls building without permission or authority to be there. See id. at 1038:19-1041:24; 3/26/11 Arrest Report of Plaintiff Abdullah Turner
. Tr. 10/22 at 1022:20-22. See also id. at 1025:14-1026:4.
. See id. at 1026:21-22, 1064:13-1065:12.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 500:12-23.
. I note, however, that even if Turner entered the building, paced in the lobby, looked up the stairs, and then exited the building to make his call, a stop would still have been unjustified. This behavior is innocuous and would not, without something more, provide reasonable suspicion of criminal trespass, or of any other crime. As in Bradley's and Roshea Johnson's cases, entering and exiting a Clean Halls building under ordinary circumstances does not establish reasonable suspicion. See infra Part V.B.l.a.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 486:9-490:25.
. Id. at 491:4-5.
. Id. at 491:6-8, 22-23.
. Defendants’ post-hearing brief does not challenge whether Turner’s second stop was based on suspicion of trespass, but does challenge whether five of the other unrecorded stops described by plaintiffs were for trespass. See Def. Findings ¶¶ 17 (Kieron Johnson), 19 (Jerome Grant), 20 (both of Letitia Ledan's stops), 21 (Roshea Johnson). I address each of defendants’ challenges below.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 438:4-25.
. As I noted above, plaintiffs have not focused on the issue of frisks in the instant litigation. Nevertheless, it is worth emphasizing that the officer's placement of his hand in J.G.’s pocket goes beyond “a carefully limited search of the outer clothing ... in an attempt to discover weapons which might be used to assault him.” Terry,
. SeeTr. 10/17 at 437:17, 439:4-443:2.
. See id. at 429:7-430:4.
. Id. at 430:4-14.
. See id. at 430:16-433:1.
. See id. at 452:13-25.
. See Photo of 274 Bonner Place, PL Ex. 37.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 451:21, 453:6-19, 454:17-455:17, 464:19-466:5.
. Id. at 464:11.
. See id. at 455:19-20, 456:8-12.
. Id. at 456:13.
. Id. at 456:18-19.
. See id. at 456:21-457:5.
. Id. at 457:15. I know of no law stating that failure to carry an ID, standing alone, provides probable cause for an arrest.
. See id. at 457:18-21.
. Again, as in the cases of Bradley and J.G., the officer’s conduct clearly exceeded the constitutional bounds of a frisk.
. See id. at 458:3-459:21, 461:4-24, 462:3-5.
. For example, Grant stated at the deposition that the Asian officer frisked all three members of the group. See id. at 467:8-9.
. See Def. Findings ¶ 19.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 461:4-19.
. See Tr. 10/16 at 394:2-395:2. Roshea Johnson is unrelated to plaintiff Kieron Johnson. See id. at 393:20-22.
. See id. at 298:11-19, 394:2-395:2.
. See id. at 394:3-399:7.
. See id. at 399:21-400:13. Defendants have not located a UF-250 connected to Roshea Johnson’s stop, or identified the officers involved in the stop, despite Roshea Johnson's precise identification of the time and place of his stop and his detailed physical descriptions of the officers. See Musick Chart (incident 11); Tr. 10/16 at 401:20-402:3.
. See Tr. 10/16 at 400:14-15.
. Id. at 400:17.
. See id. at 400:17-401:18.
. See id. at 402:4-22.
. Id. at 402:19-20.
. Id. at 402:21-22.
. See id. at 402:23-403:8.
. Id. at 403:11-13.
. See id. at 403:15-20, 403:25-404:3.
. Id. at 403:18-20.
. Tr. 10/17 at 417:21-23.
. See Tr. 10/16 at 297:2-298:19.
. See id. at 300:22-24, 301:1-14, 302:5-25, 317:18-25.
. See id. at 306:16-308:8.
. Id. at 308:8-10.
. See id. at 308:10-19.
. Id. at 308:19-309:4.
. See id. 328:22-330:4.
. Bostick,
. Even when the Supreme Court has found consent for a search, it has held that the "terminate the encounter” standard defines a Terry stop. See, e.g., Drayton,
. Drayton,
. See id. at 340:24-341:4, 342:1-343:13, 343:14-344; PI. Findings ¶ 43 ("Eladio”).
. Once again, as in the searches of Bradley, J.G., and Grant, the officer violated the Fourth Amendment by exceeding the constitutionally permissible scope of a frisk.
. See Tr. 10/16 at 344:24-346:11.
. Id. at 346:14-18.
. Id. at 346:19-347:4.
. Id. at 347:6-9.
. See id. at 346:12-349:1. Moronta's initial inability to remember whether the stop occurred in the winter of 2007 or of 2008 does not significantly undermine his credibility. See id. at 350:12-24. Defendants also note that plaintiffs' Complaint alleges that Moron-ta's stop occurred in 2010. See Def. Findings ¶ 22 n. 10; Compl. ¶ 129. But Moronta testified that he had not looked at the Complaint closely enough to notice the error until three days before his hearing testimony, and that plaintiffs' counsel may have confused the stop to which he testified with an arrest for trespass in 2010. See Tr. 10/16 at 350:22-352:18.
. See Tr. 10/16 at 377:11-379:22.
. See id. at 380:1-381:11.
. Id. at 381:12-23.
. Yet again, as in the cases of Bradley, J.G., Grant, and Moronta, the officer who searched Johnson violated Johnson’s Fourth Amendment rights by reaching into his pockets during a frisk without a reasonable basis in self-protection.
. See id. at 382:6-383:5. Johnson stated that after the incident, he felt ”[e]mbarrassed and worried,” because "there’s usually people outside and I don’t like when they see me being stopped by officers.” See id. at 384:7-10.
. See id. at 385:4-13; PL Findings ¶ 17.
. See Tr. 10/16 at 385:4-387:19, 389:8-391:5, 392:3-10.
. Cf. id. at 387:21-23.
. See id. at 382:6-10.
. See id. at 359:17-361:14.
. See id. at 361:15-362:16.
. Id. at 362:18-363:15; Compl. ¶ 83. Officer Luis Rodriguez testified to being a truancy officer who patrolled Selwyn Avenue between April and June 2012. See Tr. 10/22 at 1067:1-18. Rodriguez testified that he recognized Jefferson but did not remember stopping him between April and June 2012. See id. at 1068:8-1069:5.
. See Tr. 10/16 at 363:14-364:8.
. See id. at 364:22-365:17.
. Id. at 365:7-13.
. See id. at 366:13-15. He also stated that the stop made him feel the officers were biased “because I am being stopped all the time just because of the kind of neighborhood that I live in.” Id. at 366:16-22.
. See id. at 370:11-372:3.
. See Floyd v. City of New York,
. See Fagan Report at 2. Dr. Fagan extracted the data from the City of New York's Stop, Question, and Frisk Database. See id.
. See id. at 3; Tr. 10/15 at 69:24-70:1. See also infra Part V.B.l.a (more detailed discussion of UF-250 forms).
. See infra Appendix B ("App. B.”).
. See Fagan Report at 2-6 & nn. 2-8 (analysis leading to original count of 1,857 stops); Apps. C-E to Fagan Report (exclusion of stops where indoor behavior was observed); Tr. 10/15 at 73:5-77:7 (general search method), , 114:23-115:2 (exclusion of alleged NYCHA stops), 117:20-119:20 (recapitulation of general search method); Table 14: Period of Observation of Proximity Stops, Bronx Trespass Stops, 2011 (“Period of Observation Table”), PI. Ex. 98 (stop totals at various stages of analysis).
. See Fagan Report at 15 tbl. 8; App. L to Fagan Report; Tr. 10/15 at 114:4-115:2.
. See Tr. 10/15 at 115:1-2.
. Def. Findings ¶ 3 n.l. In Arvizu, the Supreme Court rejected the Ninth Circuit’s attempt to clarify the reasonable suspicion standard by analyzing various stop factors in isolation as part of what the Supreme Court described as a "reasonable-suspicion calculus.”
. Def. Findings ¶ 7.
. See id. ¶ 4.
. Similarly, defendants speculate that some of the buildings Dr. Fagan identified as Clean Halls buildings might not have been enrolled in Clean Halls on the date of the stop. See id. ¶ 10. Yet defendants fail to identify a single stop for which this was actually the case.
. See Floyd,
. See Def. Findings ¶ 4 ("NYPD training evidence ... clearly identifies that its officers are instructed to include all circumstances leading to the stop on the worksheet^]” (citing Tr. 10/15 at 86:12-87:2)); Tr. 10/19 at 849:13-19 (testimony of NYPD Chief James Shea).
. See App. B.
. Floyd,
. This conclusion receives anecdotal support from Officer Santiago's erroneous paperwork regarding Bradley’s arrest, which tended to overstate rather than understate the justifications for the arrest. See Bradley Fact Sheet.
. See Tr. 10/23 at 1125-1143.
. See Tr. 10/22 at 1024:2-7 (Officer Ramdeen’s failure to complete UF-250 for Turner's stop); Tr. 10/23 at 1110:3-18 (Officer Santiago's failure to complete UF-250 for Bradley's stop).
. See CCRB 2010 Annual Report, PL Ex. 78, at 13 (2010 report describing failure to fill out UF-250s as "major failure[]”); CCRB 2011 Annual Report, Pi. Ex. 79, at 14 (2011 Report describing same as "major categorfy] of failure”). I note that the NYPD Legal Bureau’s PowerPoint presentation at Rod-man’s Neck may be read as suggesting, erroneously, that UF-250s need not be prepared when a stop results in arrest: "If the investigation does not lead to an arrest the individual must be released immediately, and a UF-250 must be prepared.” NYPD Legal Bureau, Street Encounters PowerPoint Presentation ("Street Encounters Presentation”), Def. Ex. J, at 27. But see id. at 33 (stating that a UF-250 must be prepared for every stop that is based on reasonable suspicion).
. See Def. Findings ¶ 6; App. B.
. See Tr. 10/15 at 45:14-47:4.
. See Def. Findings ¶¶ 6, 10; Tr. 11/7 at 1309:9-1310:22.
. Tr. 10/15 at 47:1-4. Accord Fagan Report at 5-6 (noting underinclusive results of Dr. Fagan’s “exact match’’ method).
. I address below defendants’ argument that the period of observation field could contribute to reasonable suspicion.
. See Def. Findings ¶ 10.
. According to plaintiffs, the UF-250 database fields that could contain text suggesting an observation of indoor behavior included the field called "premname,” as summarized in App. D to the Fagan Report, and the field called “detailSA,” as summarized in App. E to the Fagan Report.
. See Fagan Report at 3-4; Tr. 10/15 at 73:8-77:7, 128:1-130:16.
. See PL Findings ¶ 69 (stating plaintiffs' claim as follows: ”[T]he defendants have a pattern and practice of unlawful stops on suspicion of trespassing outside TAP buildings in the Bronx."). Some of the text strings in Fagan Report Appendices D and E that indicate indoor behavior also indicate reasonable suspicion for a trespass stop, such as "DRINKING IN REAR OF BUILDING,” and "STAIRWELL DRINKING.” App. E to Fagan Report. Many others, however, do not. See App. D to Fagan Report (excluding stops with text strings such as "LOBBY,” and "VESTIBULE”); App. E to Fagan Report (same with text strings such as "INSIDE CLEAN HALLS,” and "SUSPECT OBSERVED INSIDE CLEAN HALL BUILDING”).
. Dr. Fagan’s testimony suggested that he attempted to exclude any stop that was “not purely an outdoor stop.” See Tr. 10/15 at 74:3-5 (emphasis added).
. A similar argument applies to defendants' assertion that Dr. Fagan’s method failed to exclude some stops that took place outside a Clean Halls building but within the legal limits of the property on which the building sits. See Def. Findings ¶ 10; Tr. 10/15 at 128:1-9. An unconstitutional stop outside a Clean Halls building but within the property line can support the existence of a pattern of unconstitutional stops outside Clean Halls buildings just as well as an unconstitutional stop a few steps outside the lot boundary.
. See Def. Findings ¶ 4 (citing generally Dr. Fagan’s analyses in Floyd and Davis).
. For example, Dr. Fagan assumed in Floyd and Davis, which also dealt with a far larger universe of stops, that Furtive Movements in combination with High Crime Area should be coded as constituting reasonable suspicion. See Tr. 10/15 at 151:2-5.
. Compare Floyd,
.In addition, I note that the method in Floyd aims to identify stops for which no reasonable suspicion of any crime exists, whereas the method in the instant case aims to identify stops for which no reasonable suspicion of trespass exists. Given a universe of forms recording stops based only on suspicion of trespass, there may be some forms containing data that could arguably constitute reasonable suspicion of some crime, but not of trespass. Thе Floyd method will identify these stops as arguably lawful, while Dr. Fagan’s method in the instant case will identify them as apparently unlawful. As a result, Dr. Fagan’s method in the instant case will result in a higher count of unlawful stops than his method in Floyd. This does not imply bad faith or a contradiction in Dr. Fagan’s methods, much less prove the invalidity of Dr. Fagan’s method in the instant case. Floyd and Ligón simply aim to assess different sets of stops.
. See Def. Findings ¶ 3 (citing Tr. 10/23 at 1172-77; Smith Report at 7-29).
. Smith Report at 8 (emphasis added).
. See Fagan Report at 8 tbl. 1; Tr. 10/15 at 83:15-85:7, 124:25-126:17 (excluding stops at NYCHA addresses).
. Plaintiffs imply in their Reply Memorandum of Law in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction ("Reply Mem.”) that it is not necessary for plaintiffs to prove "that officers are stopping people because the building is enrolled in the Clean Halls program.” Reply Mem. at 3. But as the analogy to the odd-numbered building hypothetical suggests, this cannot be correct. Plaintiffs' request for preliminary relief depends on there being a specific problem involving stops outside Clean Halls buildings, a problem that can only be partially solved by improving the
. See supra Part IV.A. 1.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 481:7-482:8 (Hispanic officer in Turner stop). I also note — though the evidence does not relate directly to the outdoor stops at issue in this case — that Officer Santiago testified that even after receiving the NYPD's stop and frisk training at Rod-man’s Neck, he still believed there was legal justification to ask anyone in the lobby or hallways of a Clean Halls building for an ID, even in the absence of any suspicion, reasonable or otherwise. See Tr. 10/23 at 111 1:2— 1113:10. Officer Santiago attempted to qualify this rule by stating that the building needed to be in a high crime area in order to justify a request for ID. See id, at 1111:9-22. He then undermined this qualification by stating, categorically, that all Clean Halls buildings are in high crime areas. See id. at 1111:24-1112:1.
. See Tr. 10/18 at 648:18-649:16.
. See Tr. 10/15 at 124:18-24.
. See id. at 123:17-20.
. See id. at 124:14-17; Tr. 10/22 at 1058:24-1059:2, 1072:9-19; Tr. 10/23 at 1110:23-1111:1; App. B.
. See Def. Findings ¶¶ 3, 6, 8-10.
. See infra Part V.B.l.a.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 519:8-520:16; Smith Report at 10-11; NYPD Legal Bureau, Trespass Affidavit Program: Legal Guidelines for Citizen Encounters in Trespass Affidavit Buildings ("1999 TAP Legal Guidelines”), Def. Ex. O, at 1. When TAP expanded to the Bronx, it was called "Clean Halls,” though as of May 2012 the NYPD has begun referring uniformly to the program as TAP. See Tr. 10/17 at 520:17-521:7. In Queens, TAP was referred to, inexplicably, as "FTAP.” See id.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 519:23-520:16. For the historical background of the War on Drugs, see William J. Stuntz, The Collapse Of American Criminal Justice 23-26, 267-74 (2011); Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow 40-58 (2010).
. Tr. 10/17 at 519:14-16.
. See id. at 519:8-520:6.
. See id. at 519:23-520:6.
. See id. at 633:13-17. In 1999, the NYPD’s Legal Bureau created its "Legal Guidelines for Citizen Encounters in Trespass Affidavit Buildings.” See 1999 TAP Legal Guidelines. One passage of the fourteen-page document states: "IT SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD THAT WHEN AN OFFICER IS NOT IN THE BUILDING (E.G., SITTING ACROSS THE STREET IN AN R.M.P.), MERELY OBSERVING AN INDIVIDUAL ENTERING AND EXITING THE BUILDING, OR SIMPLY EXITING THE BUILDING, IS NOT ENOUGH TO CONDUCT A STOP.” Id. at 6; Tr. 10/18 at 684:2-4. But Inspector Sweet testified that he did not know of anyone to whom the document had been distributed. See Tr. 10/18 at 654:5-7. Defendants argue that a document from 2000 called Patrol Guide 212-59, "Vertical Patrol” (P.G. 212-59), Def. Ex. FFFF, governed TAP before the 2012 Interim Orders. See Def. Findings ¶ 26 & n. 15 (citing P.G. 212-59). But P.G. 212-59 provides general guidelines for conducting vertical patrols and makes no mention of TAP or Clean Halls. See Tr. 10/18 at 679:20-25.
. See id. at 521:13-23.
. See id. at 523:13-524:5, 528:11-13, 531:6-533:1.
. Id. at 524:6-7.
. Tr. 10/18 at 648:18-649:16. I note that Inspector Sweet’s testimony regarding what officers said at the focus groups appears to refer to the practice of stops without reasonable suspicion inside TAP buildings, and thus does not necessarily indicate that Inspector Sweet was aware of the problem of unlawful stops outside TAP buildings. At the hearing, Inspector Sweet also emphasized that his concern was with unlawful approaches, not unlawful stops. See id. at 649:20-650:7.
. See id. at 650:18-651:17.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 534:6-536:1; Interim Order 22 of 2012 ("IO 22 of 2012’’), Def. Ex. A; Interim Order 23 of 2012 ("IO 23 of 2012"), Def. Ex. B. An "Interim Order” is a revision to a patrol guide procedure and becomes the policy of the NYPD upon publication. See Tr. 10/17 at 522:2-13.
. See 10 23 of 2012.
. See IO 22 of 2012 at 1 (¶ 1, "SCOPE,” and "PROCEDURE").
. Id. at 2.
. For the first TAP-specific training and the absence of prior training, see the numerous citations to the record at PI. Findings ¶ 48 & n. 7.
. See Tr. 10/19 at 773:23-775:14. The survey revealed that there were over eight thousand buildings enrolled in TAP, including over three thousand in the Bronx. See id.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 511:10-514:17.
. Id. at 3.
. See id.
. See PI. Findings ¶ 54.
. See 10 22 of 2012.
. I give little weight to an August 20, 2012 memo from Chief of Patrol James P. Hall to all commanding officers. See 8/20/12 Memo from Chief of Patrol to Commanding Officer, All Patrol Boroughs, Def. Ex. E. The letter, distributed as the preliminary injunction hearing approached, contains a number of ambitious orders, such as that platoon commanders must personally critique all interior or exterior "street encounters” involving TAP buildings, including all stops. See id. ¶ 3. At the hearing, the executive officer of the Patrol Services Bureau testified that he was unaware of any supervisors conducting critiques of stops inside or outside of TAP buildings. SeeTr. 10/19 at759:6-15.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 545:15-546:1, 559:24-560:7; Trespass Crimes — Fact Sheet, Def. Ex. H. While the use of this fact sheet may be a welcome development, it will do nothing to clarify officers' confusion regarding the standards for making a stop outside a Clean Halls building. There is also a new “Trespass Crimes-Owner's Affidavit” in support of the administrative goals of IO 23 of 2012. See Tr. 10/17 at 526:21-528:7; Trespass Crimes-Owner’s Affidavit, Def. Ex. G.
. See 8/12/12 Memo from Chief of Patrol to Commanding Officers, All Patrol Boroughs, Def. Ex. C.
. See 6/18/12 Memo from Chief of Patrol to Chief of Department ("Trespass Law Plan”), Def. Ex. D, ¶ 2.
. See id. ¶ 3.
. Tr. 10/19 at 789:19-790:5.
. SeeTr. 10/18 at 711:24-714:11.
. See, e.g., Tr. 10/22 at 996:2-4.
. See Trespass Law Plan ¶ 6; July 2012 Chief of Patrol Field Training Unit Program Guide ("Training Guide”), Def. Ex. N. The Police Student's Guide, which is hundreds of pages long, has also been revised to include several pages on IO 22 of 2012. See Police Student's Guide (excerpt) ("Police Student’s Guide”), Def. Ex. RRR, at 30-34; Tr. 10/22 at 915:7-919:17.
. See Training Guide at 10-24; NYPD Stop Question & (Possibly) Frisk Video Series, "Frisk,” ("SQF Training Video No. 5”), Def. Ex. T; Script of SQF Training Video No. 5, Def. Ex. U; Tr. 10/22 at 942:25-943:3 (nothing in film deals specifically with TAP). One page of the Training Guide, which was distributed only to the supervisors of IMPACT officers, reiterates IO 22 of 2012 by stating that reasonable suspicion is required for stops based on suspicion of trespass in a TAP building. See Training Guide at 65; Tr. 10/23 at 1252:1-3. The page makes no specific reference to stops outside TAP buildings, and could easily be read, in context, as a discussion of stops during vertical patrols. See Training Guide at 65.
. See infra Part V.B.l.b.
. See Def. Findings ¶¶ 35-36.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 571:25-572:23.
. See Tr. 10/19 at 888:1-2; Tr. 10/22 at 955:8-13.
. 10 22 of 2012, for example, defines the standard scenario for a vertical patrol in a TAP building, lays out various common problems that may arise during such a patrol, and prescribes what to do and what not to do in response to them, including specific questions to ask. See 10 22 of 2012 at 2. After receiving training on 10 22 of 2012, including role-play simulations, see Tr. 10/19 at 836:7-840:13, an officer will have less need to improvise under pressure or base his or her responses on inferences from general principles or analogies to other scenarios. In this sense, the NYPD’s training follows the model of a traditional Western military academy, which aims “to reduce the conduct of war to a set of rules and a system of procedures — and thereby to make orderly and rational what is essentially chaotic and instinctive.’’ John Keegan, The Face of Battle 18 (1976). On the functioning of standard operating procedures in bureaucracies generally, see Graham Allison & Philip Zelikow, Essence of Decision 143-96 (2d ed. 1999).
. As plaintiffs stated in their summation: “We have a 20-year program. There is a culture around these stops. So [corrective instruction] needs to happen periodically ... so that people get the message.” Tr. 11/7 at 1373:2-6.
. See Street Encounters Presentation at 40; Tr. 10/17 at 572:24-573:6; Tr. 10/18 at 663:13-664:1. A former commanding officer of the New York City Police Academy testified that the role-playing at Rodman’s Neck sometimes involves individuals standing outside of TAP buildings, but the individuals appear to play the role of civilian bystanders and witnesses, not suspects. See Tr. 10/19 at 815:11— 14, 838:25-840:9. Chief Hall testified that “we have made [it] clear” to officers that "we do not want” them “stopping an individual outside of [a] Clean Halls building simply because they are exiting a building, without more.” Tr. 11/23 at 1244: 6-12. Chief Hall did not provide specifics as to how this was made clear. See id.
. Street Encounters Presentation at 40.
. See Tr. 10/22 at 1043:17-1044:13.
. See id.; Tr. 10/23 at 1111:2-8.
. Defendants introduced evidence of a dramatic reduction in declines to prosecute for trespass arrests, in general, in the Bronx in 2012. See, e.g., Tr. 10/18 at 726:18-727:7; Tr. 10/23 at 1249:7-17. But this obviously does not provide a reliable basis for inferring that unlawful trespass stops outside TAP buildings have declined.
. See Def. Findings ¶ 47.
. See Davis,
. Floyd,
. Davis,
. Id. at 445, at *26 (quoting Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights,
. See supra Part IV.A.2.b, c, i. Jefferson testified to being stopped seven to eight times outside TAP buildings. See Tr. 10/16 at 361:12-14.
. See supra Part IV.A.2.b.
. See Tr. 10/17 at 471:11-472:19, 486:9-487:1.
. I also note, as I did in Floyd, that in light of the frequency of unlawful trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx, even those plaintiffs who have only been subjected to such a stop one time would likely have standing, provided that they continue to live in or visit TAP buildings. " '[Tjhere is no per se rule requiring more than one past act, or any prior act, for that matter, as a basis for finding a likelihood of future injury.' ” Floyd,
. Of course, plaintiffs would not be likely to suffer injury in the future if the NYPD no
.See PL Findings ¶¶ 72-75. The remedies proposed in this Opinion, though not identical to those requested by plaintiffs, remain largely mandatory in nature. See infra Part V.C.
. See supra Part II.
. Pl. Findings ¶¶ 69-70. Plaintiffs present the former as a "constructive acquiescence” claim, and the latter as a deliberate indifference claim based on failure to train. See id. Because constructive acquiescence is merely a way of proving deliberate indifference, I analyze the claims together.
. See supra Part IV.A. 1.
. See id.
. See Tr. 10/15 at 124:18-24; Fagan Report at 13.
. See infra Part V.B.l.a.iii.
. See supra Part IV.A.2.
. Tr. 10/16 at 266:3.
. Tr. 10/17 at 477:8.
. See id. at 478:13-22, 479:8-11.
. See id. at 486:9-490:25.
. See id. at 437:17, 439:4-443:2.
. Id. at 456:13.
. Id. at 456:18-19.
. See id. at 399:21-400:17.
. See id. at 400:17-401:18.
. App. A V 12.
. See id.
. Id. ¶ 20.
. See id.
. See, e.g., id. ¶¶ 4, 15, 22, 25, 26. In Davis, I held that “the Fifth Amendment prohibits police from arresting an individual for refusing to provide 'testimonial' evidence.” Davis,
. App. A ¶ 4.
. See id.
. In Grant's case, his cousin's or his friend's knocking loudly and perhaps angrily on the door of a Clean Halls building may have provided a minimal level of objective justification for suspecting that Grant and the others were attempting to enter unlawfully. See supra Part IV.A.2.d. As noted above, Ledan initiated her second encounter, which was most likely consensual and thus did not require reasonable suspicion. Even if the stop had been nonconsensual, under the circumstances her interest in the detention of her husband and friends may have provided adequate grounds for brief questioning. See supra Part IV.A.2.L
. See PL Findings ¶ 17.
. See Smith Report at 6.
. See Pl. Findings ¶ 17.
. See supra Part IV.A.l. In the absence of more detailed evidence or testimony regarding the initial police encounters described in the decline to prosecute forms, I assume that the encounters were likely similar to those described by plaintiffs, and thus that the intrusiveness of the encounters likely rose to the level of a Terry stop at or shortly after the time that the officer or officers initiated questioning. See generally App. A. I also note that in many of the encounters described in the decline to prosecute forms, the defendant's behavior as described in the form never gave rise to reasonable suspicion, even after the stop began. See App. A ¶¶ 2, 3, 8, 11, 12, 16, 17, 21, 24.
. I have altered plaintiffs' calculations to account for the two decline to prosecute forms containing revisions of other forms. See supra Part IV.A. 1.
. See Smith Report at 6. Dr. Fagan calculated arrest rates (or, as he called them, "hit rates”) in Floyd, but does not appear to have done so in the instant case. Compare Floyd,
. See Fagan Report at 15 & tbl. 8; App. L to Fagan Report ("Stop Factor List”), PL Ex. 64.
. See App. B.
. See Def. Findings ¶ 4 ("NYPD training evidence ... clearly identifies that its officers are instructed to include all circumstances leading to the stop on the worksheet!?]” (citing Tr. 10/15 at 86:12-87:2)); Tr. 10/19 at 849:13-19 (testimony of Chief Shea); Police Student’s Guide at 20.
. See Fagan Report at 15 & tbl. 8; Stop Factor List.
. See Stop Factor List at 1. The final four pages of the six page list contain the many allegedly inadequate combinations that appeared on only one UF-250. See id. at 3-6.
. See Fagan Report at 11-15.
. See id.
. See Stop Factor List at 1.
. See id.
. See id.
. See Fagan Report at 13 (explaining "Clean Halls/Trespass" category); "detailSA Stop Factor Analysis” (" 'Other' Text Strings”), App. F to Fagan Report at 5-6 (listing the text strings in this category, in-eluding "CLEAN HALLS,” "CLEAN HALLS BLDG,” "CRIM TRES,” and "CLEAN HALLS PROGRAM-CRIM TRES”).
. See "Other” Text Strings at 7-8 (listing text strings in the "Observed Exit” category, including many variations on the phrase “EXITING CLEAN HALLS BUILDING”).
. Wardlow,
*529 (1) the officers' knowledge that the ... building was located in a high-crime, drug-prone neighborhood; (2) the officers’ knowledge that the ... building had experienced problems with drug trafficking and trespassing; (3) the officers' understanding that the building had participated in FTAP; (4) Bellamy's presence in the [building's] vestibule; (5) the presence of the supposed "crack addict” outside of the ... building; and (6) Bellamy's furtive gestures.
Id. at 317.
. See Stop Factor List.
. See Floyd,
. "Reasonable articulable suspicion does not exist merely on the basis of [High Crime Area and Time of Day]: many people live in high crime areas and many crimеs occur at night; simply being in a high crime area at night is not suspicious behavior.” Floyd,
. See Fagan Report at 11.
. See, e.g., "Other” Text Strings at 7 ("Observed Entry” text strings including, for example, “RAN INTO BLDG”). The NYPD Legal Bureau’s PowerPoint presentation at Rodman's Neck contains a number of examples of concise, easily written descriptions of furtive behavior that could give rise to reasonable suspicion. See Street Encounters Presentation at 22-23.
. See id. (listing text strings accompanying checked Other boxes).
. In addition, many behaviors that would, like the behaviors hypothesized above, lead to a suspicion of trespass would presumably also provide grounds to check "Actions Indicative [o]f ‘Casing' Victim Or Location" or "Actions Indicative of Acting As A Lookout" on Side 1. See App. B.
. See Fagan Report at 11 n. 12 (citing Robert J. Sampson & Steven W. Raudenbush, Seeing Disorder: Neighborhood Stigma and the Social Construction of “Broken Windows”, 67 Soc. Psychol. Q. 319 (2004); Geoffrey P. Alpert, John M. MacDonald, & Roger G. Dun- ■ ham, Police Suspicion and Discretionary Decision Making During Citizen Stops, 43 Criminology 407 (2005)).
. See id. Indeed, this is an area in which further training may be highly beneficial.
. See Bayless,
. See Floyd,
. Floyd,
. See Def. Findings ¶¶ 6 (“Period of Observation"), 8 (metacategories for "Other" text strings), 9 ("Furtive Movements,” "Ongoing Investigation”).
. See id. ¶ 6; App. B.
. See Def. Findings ¶ 6. According to the UF-250 database, in sixty-five percent of the trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx in 2011, the Period of Observation was less than one minute, and in eighty-four percent of those stops, the period of observation was less than two minutes. See Period of Observation Table. Only five of the 1,044 unlawful stops identified by Dr. Fagan involved periods of observation of greater than ten minutes. See Table 15: Distribution of Period of Observation, PL Ex. 99.
. See Def. Findings ¶ 8; Smith Report at 34-39. Neither Dr. Smith nor defendants offer a total of the number of stops contested by Dr. Smith in this way. Plaintiffs state that Dr. Smith identified thirty-six stops with con
. See Smith Report at 34-35.
. See Def. Findings ¶ 9; App. B.
. See supra Part IV.B.l.
. See 1999 TAP Legal Guidelines at 6; Tr. 10/18 at 684:2-4.
. SeeTr. 10/18 at 648:18-649:16.
. See id. at 650:18-651:17.
. See id. at 659:20-660:17.
. See Tr. 10/16 at 256:8-13.
. Connick,
. See id. at 1359 (citing Tuttle,
. Cash,
. See Connick,
. See Walker,
. Id. at 298 (quoting Canton,
. Jones,
. Connick,
.See Tr. 10/15 at 176:14-23.
Some commentators have expressed skepticism regarding the practical virtues of De Bour’s multi-level analysis. LaFave questions whether De Bour's more sophisticated articulation of Terry’s balancing approach is advantageous, or is likely to result in "such confusion and uncertainty that neither police nor courts can ascertain with any degree of confidence precisely what it takes to meet any of these standards.” LaFave, Search & Seizure § 9.4(e). Accord Emily J. Sack, Police Approaches and Inquiries on the Streets of New York: The Aftermath of People v. De Bour, 66 N.Y.U.L. Rev. 512, 520, 548-53 (1991) (arguing that "the courts routinely conflate the De Bour standards and use inappropriately low levels of suspicion to justify police intrusions,” and that "the multitiered structure of the De Bour model allows inadequately justified low-level intrusions to escalate quickly into inappropriate forcible stops and arrests”). See also Anthony G. Amsterdam, Perspectives on the Fourth Amendment, 58 Minn. L. Rev. 349, 394 (1974) (a "sliding scale approach” to the Fourth Amendment may “produce more slide than scale").
The NYPD’s training materials may illustrate the risk created by the multi-level doctrine of De Bour. The mere existence of De Bour Level 2, and the inevitable difficulty of clearly distinguishing an encounter on the more intrusive end of Level 2 from an encounter on the less intrusive end of Level 3, creates problems of administrability. In practice, the possibility of classifying a stop as Level 2 or even Level 1 may lead police to perform a large number of stops — in the ordinary sense of the word, but inevitably often in the Teiry sense as well — without the minimal foundation in reasonable suspicion required by the U.S. Constitution.
In addition, the constitutional framework for the ex post evaluation of highly individualized, discretionary stops, where exclusion is the only remedy, may not be appropriate to the ex ante evaluation of routinized, highly scripted, largely predictable stops, where the remedy can involve changes in training. Ultimately, "the central inquiry under the Fourth Amendment” is "the reasonableness in all the circumstances of the particular governmental invasion of a citizen’s personal security.” Terry,
Terry itself seems to invite scrutiny of stops falling below the intrusiveness of Terry stops, provided that the remedies applied are less severe than the exclusion of evidence. "[0]f course, our approval of legitimate and restrained investigative conduct undertaken on the basis of ample factuаl justification should in no way discourage the employment of other remedies than the exclusionary rule to curtail abuses for which that sanction may prove inappropriate.” Terry,
. See Def. Findings ¶ 29 n. 16 ("Defendants contend that any similarity in the interactions [between officers and plaintiffs] demonstrates that officers are being uniformly trained.”).
. See supra Part IV.B.
. See Street Encounters Presentation at 40; Tr. 10/17 at 572:24-573:6; Tr. 10/18 at 663:13-664:1.
. See Tr. 10/19 at 900:21-904:20; Tr. 10/22 at 942:13-24; SQF Training Video No. 5; Script of SQF Training Video No. 5.
.See Tr. 10/22 at 22-24. Chief Shea also testified that the information in the video is “consistent with the training that recruit officers receive at the academy” regarding reasonable suspicion. See Tr. 10/19 at 904:16-20.
. Script of SQF Training Video No. 5 at 58-59 (formatting altered), beginning at roughly 6:35 in SQF Training Video No. 5.
. Perhaps the video reflects a misunderstanding of the Supreme Court's ruling in Hodari D„
. Bostick,
. See, e.g., Alabama v. White,
. Bostick,
. Simmons,
. Brown v. City of Oneonta, N.Y.,
. See Davis,
. Id. at 427-29, at *14.
. United States v. Glover,
. Script of SQF Training Video No. 5 at 58-59.
. See Def. Findings ¶ 42.
. See Tr. 10/19 at 744:2-6.
. Using the language of De Bour Level 2, not Level 3, the Training Guide requires a “founded suspicion that criminal activity is afoot” in order to approach and engage in an encounter of this kind. See Training Guide at 17.
. Id. (emphases omitted). The Guide clarifies that the officer "may not touch the person, display a weapon, or act in a threatening manner,” but notes that “[i]f a confronted citizen walks away without answering, the officer may follow to continue questioning.” See id. at 17-18.
. Delgado,
. Bostick,
. Indeed, based on the accounts of stops in the decline to prosecute forms, this appears to be an accurate expectation. See App. A ¶¶ 12, 20, discussed below. Moreover, it would not be surprising to learn that based on the experiences of their families, friends, and neighbors, the residents of these buildings fully appreciate the consequences that will follow if they attempt to walk away from the police during questioning.
. Tr. 10/17 at 491:22-23.
. Drayton,
. Training Guide at 65; Tr. 10/19 at 743:6-7. I recognize that many of the NYPD’s training materials purport to derive from De Bour, as defendants have emphasized. See, e.g., Def. Findings ¶ 42 & n. 19. Because plaintiffs have brought their case under the Fourth Amendment, and not New York law, PL Findings ¶¶ 64-71, it would lie beyond the scope of this Opinion to make general statements regarding the precise relations between the law of De Bour and the case law interpreting the Fourth Amendment. I note, however, that in theory, De Bour should provide greater protection than the Fourth Amendment by restricting police action even in encounters whose level of invasiveness falls below the minimum threshold for Fourth Amendment scrutiny. See, e.g., De Bour,
. Street Encounters Presentation at 16, 19.
. I note that the NYPD’s stop practices also appear to conflict with the considered judgment of the New York State Legislature, which enacted New York's stop and frisk law. This law states that without a warrant, "a police officer may stop a person ... when he reasonably suspects that such person is committing, has committed, or is about to commit” a crime, "and may demand of him his name, address and an explanation of his conduct.” CPL § 140.50. In other words, the New York State Legislature envisioned reasonable suspicion preceding the request for a name, address, and purpose.
. Street Encounters Presentation at 37 (capitalization altered).
. Id. at 33 (emphasis altered).
. See Drayton,
. See, e.g., Def. Findings ¶ 42 & n. 19.
. Id.
. As I noted in the Introduction, the Supreme Court held in Sibron that "New York is, of course, free to develop its own law of search and seizure to meet the needs of local law enforcement.... It may not, however, authorize police conduct which trenches upon Fourth Amendment rights, regardless of the labels which it attaches to such conduct.”
. Winter,
. Class Mem. at 1.
. Strouchler v. Shah,
. See id. at 515 ("In order to merit preliminary relief, the threat оf irreparable harm must be imminent.” (citing Rodriguez v. De-Buono,
. Ligón,
. Winter,
. UBS Fin. Setvs.,
. Sterling Drug, Inc. v. Bayer AG,
. See PL Findings ¶¶ 73-75.
. Floyd,
. Teny,
. See Tr. 10/16 at 269:2-9; Rappa Letter.
. Though it is unnecessary to reach the issue in this Opinion, I note that the appropriate form of Fourth Amendment analysis may differ depending on the quantity and nature of stops being scrutinized, and the remedies available. Not only are the consequences of stops different today than they were in 1968, but the frequency of stops is far higher as well. See Floyd,
. Winter,
. Terry,
. See Davis,
. Reynolds,
. See, e.g., Tr. 10/18 at 593:15-594:3 (testimony of landlord to the advantages of enrollment in Operation Clean Halls).
. Patsy’s Ital. Res., Inc. v. Bañas,
. Reynolds,
. Some recent scholarship has argued that the NYPD's stop and frisk program may be partly responsible for the decline in crime in New York City in recent decades. See Franklin E. Zimring, The City That Became Safe: New York's Lessons for Urban Crime and Its Control (2011). The issue in this case, however, is not whether trespass stops outside TAP buildings in the Bronx are effective at reducing crime, but whether they are constitutional. No matter how effective a police practice may be, if it violates the Fourth Amendment, the Constitution requires the government to find other means of achieving its goals. For example, while preventive detention might be an effective law enforcement tool, police departments are not allowed to employ it, because doing so would violate the Constitution.
. Floyd,
. Defendants appear to believe that an order prohibiting stops outside TAP buildings that lack reasonable suspicion is "a simple command that the defendant obey the law,” and thus is not legally cognizable. See Def. Findings ¶ 54 n. 21 (quoting S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. v. Clorox Co.,
. Drayton,
. Wardlow,
. White,
. I emphasize that this ruling should in no way be taken to indicate that I have already concluded that plaintiffs will prevail in Floyd. The evidence presented by both sides in Floyd will be judged on its own merits. While the Applicable Law section of this Opinion — see supra Part III — certainly applies to issues raised in Floyd, the Findings of Fact section does not. As I have noted throughout this Opinion, this case relates solely to trespass stops outside of TAP buildings in the Bronx. It is only because of the unavoidable overlap between the steps that are necessary to address plaintiffs' harms in the instant case, and the steps that would he necessary to address plaintiffs’ harms in Floyd if plaintiffs prevailed there, that I am ordering the consolidation of the remedies presentations.
.In the interests of efficiency, counsel in Floyd and Ligón are also permitted, but not required, to invite the participation of counsel
. Subsequent to the publication of the original version of this Opinion on January 8, 2013, I stayed the immediately ordered relief granted above. See Ligón v. City of New York, No. 12 Civ. 2274,
