Residents of public housing in New York City are entitled to be free from police harassment in their homes just like any other New Yorker, but NYC has repeatedly criminalized traveling home or visiting a friend while Black or brown for those residents.
In Davis v. City of New York, LDF successfully challenged the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) policies and practices of unlawfully stopping and arresting New York City Housing Authority residents and their visitors for criminal trespass without sufficient evidence and due to their race and/or ethnicity and currently participating in court-ordered monitoring. The Davis plaintiffs are represented by the the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), The Legal Aid Society, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
On January 29, 2010, a group including residents of and visitors to New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) residences filed a class action lawsuit against NYCHA and the City of New York. Davis, et al. v. City of New York, et al. challenges the NYPD’s practices of unlawful stops and arrests of NYCHA residents and their visitors for criminal trespass without sufficient evidence and due to their race and/or ethnicity.
The case aimed to establish that New York City police officers were stopping individuals at NYCHA residences without individualized suspicion and arresting them without probable cause. The lawsuit argued that these NYPD practices are discriminatory policies against minorities, and that the City of New York and NYCHA violate the housing rights of NYCHA residents. They argue that the City of New York and NYCHA violated their Constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968, the Fair Housing Act, the United Housing Act, and the laws of New York City and State.
Many of these unconstitutional stops and arrests are the product of “vertical sweeps,” an NYPD practice of stopping individuals in or around common areas of NYCHA residences without individualized suspicion. In essence, the NYPD only operates these unlawful pedestrian checkpoints in communities of color. In fact, the rate of stops and arrests for trespass in overwhelming non-white NYCHA residences is significantly higher than in surrounding areas with similar crime rates. NYCHA residences located in white or gentrifying neighborhoods display even starker rates of disparities in trespass stops and arrests.
Some of the Davis v. City of New York Plaintiffs were detained or arrested by NYPD police officers in their own buildings or while trying to visit family members and friends. Other Plaintiffs are residents of NYCHA whose family members and friends are the ones being stopped and arrested while trying to visit. At the time of the stops or arrests, the individuals were not engaged in illegal activity, nor were they on NYCHA properties without authorization. Following the arrests, all of the charges were dismissed. The case alleges that the NYPD targets NYCHA residences and only implements these unlawful practices in communities of color.
On April 28, 2015, a federal court approved a final settlement agreement in Davis et al. v. City of New York et al. regarding the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) improper and unlawful enforcement of criminal trespass laws in public housing. Judge Shira Scheindlin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York approved the settlement reached by the parties after a period of time in which class members had an opportunity to voice their opinions about its terms.
As a result of the court’s final approval, the Davis case will now become part of the court monitoring process that was ordered in the lawsuit that successfully challenged the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policies (Floyd v. City of New York). Both matters will be overseen by court-appointed monitor and former NYC Corporation Counsel, Peter Zimroth. Community stakeholders, including public housing residents, will have input in the reforms to the NYPD through a joint remedial process that is being presided over by retired State Appellate Division Justice Ariel Belen.
The terms of the settlement explicitly state that “NYCHA residents and their authorized visitors have the same legal rights as the residents and authorized visitors of any other residential building in New York City, and deserve the utmost courtesy and respect.” The settlement revises the NYPD Patrol Guide on vertical (or interior) patrols in NYC public housing and the related NYPD training materials regarding vertical patrols and enforcement of NYCHA rules, requires documentation of all trespass arrests in NYC public housing, and modifies certain NYCHA rules concerning residents’ cooperation with police and the prohibited activity of “lingering.”
In 2019, a federal judge approved a public housing training for the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to ensure that all officers understand the rights afforded to New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) residents and their guests.
