NYC Attorney: No "Racial Motivation Whatsoever" in Stop-and-Frisk

Trial is winding down

The federal civil rights challenge to the contentious New York Police Department tactic of stop, question and frisk is winding down after more than nine weeks of testimony from men who say they were wrongly stopped because of their race and police officials who believe the nation's largest force operates with integrity.

City attorney Heidi Grossman said during summations Monday that there is "no indication of racial motivation whatsoever" in the practice.

U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin must eventually examine more than 7,000 pages of trial record and may order major changes to the policy, reforms that could have a nationwide impact on how police departments operate.

More than 5 million stops have been made in New York in the past decade, mostly of black and Hispanic men. Police must have reasonable suspicion to stop someone, a standard lower than probable cause needed to justify an arrest. Only about 10 percent result in arrests.