Tracking

Enforcement Rates
In New York City
2003-2014
A Report of

the Misdemeanor Justice Project
at John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Presented to the
Citizens Crime Commission
December 11, 2015

Tracking Enforcement Rates in New York City,
2003-2014
Introduction by President Jeremy Travis
Preeti Chauhan, Ph.D.
Todd C. Warner, Ph.D.
Adam G. Fera, M.A.
Ervin Balazon, M.P.A.
Olive Lu, M.S.
Megan Welsh, Ph.D.
December 11, 2015

Suggested Citation: Chauhan, P., Warner, T.C., Fera, A.G., Balazon, E., Lu, O., & Welsh,
M. with an Introduction by Jeremy Travis. (2015, December). Tracking enforcement
rates in New York City, 2003-2014. Report Presented to the Citizens Crime
Commission. New York: New York.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project is only made possible by the agencies that willingly shared their data with
us, as well as the individuals within those agencies who were so generous with their
time, patience, and knowledge.
We are grateful to the New York City Police Department for providing data on
misdemeanor arrests, particularly Assistant Commissioner Ronald J. Wilhelmy;
Director of Research, Policy, and Planning Rebecca Neusteter; Sergeant Tara Coffey;
Detective Michael Pesale; and Officer Joshua Martin.
We also want to thank the Office of Court Administration, particularly Justin Barry,
Chip Mount, and Ronald Younkins. A special thanks to Karen Kane and Carolyn
Cadoret for their on-going support of our project and for answering so many of our data
clarification questions along the way.
We would like to thank the Division of Criminal Justice Services, particularly Terry Salo
and Marge Cohen, for being our data partners on this project and for providing the
arrest data.
This project was made stronger through the guidance of several individuals. Thank you
to Ashley Cannon from the Citizens Crime Commission and Nitin Savur from the New
York County District Attorney’s Office. Thank you also to Freda Solomon and Richard
Peterson from New York Criminal Justice Agency
Thank you to Police Commissioner William J. Bratton and his executive staff for
supporting our work.
Lastly, this work would not have been possible without funding from the Laura and
John Arnold Foundation. We are especially grateful to Anne Milgram and Virginia
Bersch for their support in meeting the mission of the Misdemeanor Justice Project.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
	
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................. 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................ 3
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................... 4
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 6
GOALS OF THE REPORT........................................................................... 15
DEFINITIONS AND DATA ON ENFORCEMENT .........................................17
NUMBERS AND RATES FOR ENFORCEMENT: OVERALL ........................ 21
ENFORCEMENT RATES: GENDER............................................................ 25
ENFORCEMENT RATES: AGE-RELATED TRENDS ................................... 29
ENFORCEMENT RATES: ENFORCEMENT TYPE WITH AGE BREAKDOWN
................................................................................................................. 43
ENFORCEMENT RATES: RACE/ETHNICITY............................................. 51
MALE ENFORCEMENT RATES: AGE AND RACE/ETHNICITY .................. 58
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 68

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Violent and Non-Violent Crime Rates in New York City from 1980-2014……….8
Figure 2: Number of Arrests from 1980-2014 and Number of Criminal Summonses and
Stops from 2003-2014 in New York City…………………………………………………………………10
Figure 3: Rates of Arrests from 1980-2014 and Rates of Criminal Summonses and Stops
from 2003-2014 in New York City……..……………………………………………………………..……12
Figure 4: Number of Enforcement Actions in New York City 2011-2014……………..……..21
Figure 5: Enforcement Rates in New York City from 2003-2014……………………………….23
Figure 6: Enforcement Rates for Males in New York City from 2003-2014………………..25
Figure 7: Enforcement Rates for Females in New York City from 2003-2014……………..27
Figure 8: Enforcement Rates for all Age Groups in New York City from 2003-2014…..30
Figure 9: Enforcement Rates for Ages 16-17 in New York City from 2003-2014……..…..33
Figure 10: Enforcement Rates for Ages 18-20 in New York City from 2003-2014……….35
Figure 11: Enforcement Rates for Ages 21-24 in New York City from 2003-2014………..37
Figure 12: Enforcement Rates for Ages 25-34 in New York City from 2003-2014……….39
Figure 13: Enforcement Rates for Ages 35 and Older in New York City from 20032014……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………41
Figure 14: Felony Arrest Rates by Age Group in New York City from 2003-2014………..43
Figure 15: Misdemeanor Arrest Rates by Age Group in New York City from 20032014……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………45
Figure 16: C-Summons Issuance Rates by Age Group in New York City from 20032014……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………47
Figure 17: Stop Rates by Age Group in New York City from 2003-2014…………………….49
Figure 18: Enforcement Rates by Race/Ethnicity in New York City from 2003-2014….51
Figure 19: Enforcement Rates for Blacks in New York City from 2003-2014……………..53
Figure 20: Enforcement Rates for Hispanics in New York City from 2003-2014………..54

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Figure 21: Enforcement Rates for Whites in New York City from 2003-2014…………….56
Figure 22: Enforcement Rates for Males Ages 16-17 by Race/Ethnicity in New York City
from 2003-2014…………………………………………………………………………………………………..58
Figure 23: Enforcement Rates for Males Ages 18-20 by Race/Ethnicity in New York City
from 2003-2014…………………………………………………………………………………………………..60
Figure 24: Enforcement Rates for Males Ages 21-24 by Race/Ethnicity in New York City
from 2003-2014…………………………………………………………………………………………………..62
Figure 25: Enforcement Rates for Males Ages 25-34 by Race/Ethnicity in New York City
from 2003-2014…………………………………………………………………………………………………..64
Figure 26: Enforcement Rates for Males Ages 35 and Older by Race/Ethnicity in New
York City from 2003-2014…………………………………………………………………………………….66

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INTRODUCTION
In recent years, the national discussion on the role of the police in our society has been
defined, in large part, by debates over the proper exercise of the enforcement authority
granted to police officers. This discussion has been carried out under various headings.
Some debates focus on the effectiveness of “quality of life”, or “broken windows”
policing. Others center on whether there is a “Ferguson Effect,” or a hesitation on the
part of the police to take enforcement actions following the tragic events in Ferguson,
MO. Still other policy discussions focus on the role of the police in enforcing specific
laws, such as prohibitions on marijuana possession, or in arresting certain categories of
people, such as the mentally ill or the homeless. Finally, many heated discussions
involve the role of the police in interacting with communities of color, particularly young
people in those communities, and the use of enforcement powers in those
neighborhoods.
Too often, these discussions are carried out in the absence of clear empirical
understanding of the trends in the use of the enforcement powers of the police. It is
against this backdrop of a compelling conversation about the role of the police and the
need for good data that John Jay College of Criminal Justice is particularly pleased to
present this report documenting the rise and fall in enforcement actions in New York
City from 2003-2014. This is the third report prepared by the Misdemeanor Justice
Project, a research initiative launched nearly three years ago by a team of John Jay
faculty, staff, and students. The Misdemeanor Justice Project focuses on trends in the
use of police discretion in response to crimes, particularly low-level crimes. The hope of
the Misdemeanor Justice Project is to provide an empirical foundation for the policy
discussion underway in New York City and across the country on the interactions
between the police and the public regarding low-level violations of the law.
This third report from the Misdemeanor Justice Project documents the changing
patterns in felony arrests, misdemeanor arrests, criminal summonses, and stop,
question and frisk activities in New York City from 2003-2014. This analysis was
inspired by Police Commissioner William J. Bratton’s notion of the “peace dividend,”
the assertion that a lower level of enforcement activity by police officers will allow police
resources to be redeployed to better use, promote greater discretion in exercising
authority, and reduce the number of negative interactions with the public.1 On March
26, 2015, the NY Daily News reported that Commissioner Bratton predicted one million
fewer law enforcement contacts with the public in 2015, mainly due to decreases in
stops, summonses, and marijuana arrests.2 This report presents trends in arrests,
criminal summonses, and stops and analyzes these data by the age, gender, and
race/ethnicity (when possible) of those receiving this enforcement attention. The report
covers enforcement activities through 2014, the year before the Commissioner’s
predictions can be validated, but the results confirm his assessment of the magnitude of
See http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/government/5977-peace-dividend-approach-continuesbratton-and-de-blasio-say
2 See http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/exclusive-bratton-predicts-nypd-publiccontacts-fall-1m-article-1.2162742
1

6

the “peace dividend”: between 2011 and 2014, there were 804,750 fewer enforcement
actions taken by the NYPD.
As with the previous reports of the Misdemeanor Justice Project, this third report
provides a macro-level picture on the number (and rates) of enforcement actions using
arrests, criminal summonses, and reported stops. Unlike our prior reports, we do not
track these from point of contact to disposition and sentence. We recognize at the
outset that this report does not include all the different types of enforcement activities
for which New Yorkers come in contact with the police, such as moving violation
summonses, parking violation summonses, and Transit Authority Bureau summonses.
These three types of activities are likely high volume and contribute to the overall
experience of New Yorkers with the police, but data are not available for parking
violation summonses and TAB summonses, and moving violation summonses do not
provide demographic breakdown. Therefore, this report does not include the entire
universe of enforcement actions between the police and public.
Our first report documented misdemeanor arrests in New York City and compared those
trends to Upstate Cities in New York State (i.e., Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse,
and Yonkers) and the rest of New York State for over three decades. The first report,
entitled Trends in Misdemeanor Arrests in New York, examined not only arrest rates by
demographics but also examined charges, dispositions, and sentences. Our second
report was entitled The Summons Report: Trends in the Issuance and Disposition of
Summonses in New York City, 2003-2014. This report examined trends in issuance
patterns by age and gender, charges, dispositions, and sentences. Similar to the first
report, we were able to track the enforcement activity from contact with enforcement
officer to disposition. This third report updates the demographic trends from the first
two reports to include 2014. We also add data reflecting trends in the practice of
pedestrian stops, known as “stop, question and frisk” in New York City. These stops
represent a different kind of enforcement activity, one that only infrequently results in
an arrest or summons, but still represents an assertion of legal authority over an
individual by the police.
All three reports present data in an objective, neutral tone without attempting to tease
apart causal connections with other trends, such as crime rates. We hope that other
scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers take on this task to deepen our understanding
of these trends. Yet we think it is important to set the findings of this report in the
larger context of crime rates in New York City. Indeed, the concept of the “peace
dividend” reflects the belief that lower crime rates will be accompanied by lower levels of
enforcement activity. The following figures set that context.

7

Figure 1:
Violent and Non-Violent Crime Rates in New York City from 1980-2014

Data Sources: New York City Police Department and the United States Census Bureau for Population
Counts.

From 1980 to 2014, New York City experienced a dramatic crime decline3 (see Figure 1).
Violent crimes – murder, rape, robbery, and felony assault – rates declined significantly,
dropping from 1,886 (violent crimes per 100,000 population) to 457 (violent crimes per
100,000 population) in 2014. In other words, the violent crime rate declined from 1.9
percent in 1980 to 0.5 percent in 2014. Robberies dropped by 86 percent, declining
from a rate of 1,422 (per 100,000) to 197 (per 100,000). In absolute numbers, this
means approximately 84,000 fewer robberies occurred in 2014, compared to 1980.
Murders are the lowest in recorded history, declining from 1,821 murders in 1980 to 333
3 We present these trends as rates because New York City experienced a significant population increase
from about 7,071,639 million in 1980 to 8,407,363 million in 2013.

8

in 2014 and dropping from a rate of 26 (per 100,000) in 1980 to 4 (per 100,000) in
2014. Felony assault rates experienced the least decrease, dropping from a rate of 387
(per 100,000) to 240 (per 100,000).
Nonviolent crimes – including burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft – declined
sharply over this time, and the difference between the violent crime rate and nonviolent
crime rate has narrowed substantially. From 1980 to 2014, the nonviolent crime rate
fell from 6,452 (per 100,000) to 812 (per 100,000), an 87 percent decrease. The
burglary and motor vehicle theft rates both fell by 93 percent. Burglary fell from 3,008
(per 100,000) to 199 (per 100,000) and motor vehicle theft declined from 1,364 (per
100,000) to 91 (per 100,000). This represents almost 196,000 fewer burglaries
(212,748 in 1980 to 16,765 in 2014) and 88,807 fewer motor vehicle thefts (96,471 in
1980 to 7,664 in 2014). Larceny declined from a rate of 2,080 (per 100,000) to 522 (per
100,000). In absolute numbers, larceny dropped from 147,073 in 1980 to 43,862 in
2014.

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Figure 2:
Number of Arrests from 1980-2014 and
Number of Criminal Summonses and Stops from 2003-2014
in New York City

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony and Misdemeanor Arrests, New York City
Police Department for Stops, and Office of Court Administration for Criminal Summonses.

While crime was declining, New York City was also experiencing drastic changes in the
numbers of enforcement actions between police and citizens. Figure 2 shows the trends
in misdemeanor and felony arrests from 1980 to 2014 and the number of criminal
summonses issued and stop, question, and frisk actions from 2003 to 2014. The
number of felony arrests started at a low of 85,221 in 1980, increased to a peak of
147,543 in 1989, and then dipped back down to 89,306 by 2014, close to the 1980 level.
Misdemeanor arrests rose sharply from 65,042 in 1980 to a peak of 249,639 in 2010 and
then decreased to 219,917 in 2014.

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Data on criminal summonses and stops are only available for the last twelve years and
both types of enforcement actions have experienced dramatic changes. The issuance of
criminal summonses is consistently a high volume activity. In 2003, there were 557,723
criminal summonses issued for violations such as public consumption of alcohol,
disorderly conduct, and public urination. This peaked to 607,195 summonses issued in
2006 and has since declined to 369,058 in 2014. The enforcement actions between
police and public called stops have demonstrated the most dramatic fluctuations
increasing from 160,851 reported stops in 2003 to a peak of 685,724 in 2011 (a 326
percent increase) and then plummeting to 45,787 in 2014 (a decline of 93 percent from
2011). Together, these two types of police enforcement represented approximately
718,500 enforcement actions in 2003 and 414,845 in 2014.

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Figure 3:
Rates of Arrests from 1980-2014 and
Rates of Criminal Summonses and Stops from 2003-2014
in New York City

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony and Misdemeanor Arrests, New York City
Police Department for Stops, Office of Court Administration for Criminal Summonses, and United States
Census Bureau for Population Counts.

While examining the raw numbers is meaningful, we also believe it is important to look
at these enforcement actions as rates given the increase in the New York City population
from 1980 to 2014 as well as from 2003 to 2014. Figure 3 shows the same enforcement
actions as a rate per population for those above the age of 16.4 Again, felony arrest rates
4 Figure 2 included all Stops. Figure 3 includes only stops for those over the age of 16. We had to exclude
data for those without a reasonable age (e.g., 919) and those under the age of 16. We use 16 as the cutoff

12

rose from 1,539 (per 100,000) in 1980 to a peak of 2,549 (per 100,000) in 1989 and
dipped down to 1,310 (per 100,000) in 2014. Therefore, while the number of felony
arrests is slightly higher in 2014 compared to 1980, the felony arrest rate is lower in
2014 than in 1980.
Misdemeanor arrest rates rose from 1,174 (per 100,000) in 1980 to a peak of 3,774 (per
100,000) in 2010. This represents a 221 percent increase in the misdemeanor arrest
rate over the span of 30 years. However, the rate of misdemeanor arrests then dropped
to 3,225 (per 100,000) in 2014, a decline of 15 percent from the 2010 peak.
The issuance rate of criminal summonses experienced a decline from 8,746 (per
100,000) in 2003 to 5,411 (per 100,000) in 2014, with a peak of 9,414 (per 100,000) in
2005. This represents a 38 percent decrease from 2003 and a 43 percent decrease from
the peak in 2005.
The trends in stop, question, and frisk activity show the most dramatic changes. In
2003, there were 2,276 (per 100,000), increasing to a peak of 9,709 (per 100,000) in
2011, a 327 percent increase, and then declining sharply to 638 (per 100,000) in 2014.
The 2014 rate of stops represents a 72 percent decrease from 2003, the first year of
reporting, and a 93 percent decrease from the 2011 peak.
At an aggregate level, these trends represent a significant change in enforcement actions
between the police and public in New York City. The report demonstrates that from
2011 to 2014 there were approximately 800,000 fewer enforcement actions in New York
City. It is important to recognize, however, that this dramatic shift was not evenly
distributed across the city’s population, just as the increases in enforcement activity
documented in our previous reports were not evenly distributed. Accordingly, as in
previous reports, we combine these enforcement actions by rates and show how the
patterns diverge by gender, age and race/ethnicity (when possible). In the pages that
follow we demonstrate that, just as the rise in enforcement activity has been most
acutely experienced by young men, particularly young African American and Hispanic
men, so too the declines in enforcement activity have been most pronounced within
these demographic groups. We leave it to other scholars and experts to debate the
impact of these shifts on young people’s attitudes, their behavior, and their views of the
police, but what is clear from our analyses is that the experience of young people
growing up during the rise in enforcement activities is demonstrably different than the
experiences of their counterparts growing up today.
We are grateful for our many partners who have made this work possible. We thank our
colleagues at the Division of Criminal Justice Services including Deputy Commissioner
Terry Salo for providing us with the data and being supportive of our collaboration. We
are also indebted to the New York City Police Department, in particular Assistant
Commissioner Ronald Wilhelmy and Director of Research, Policy, and Planning
given that it is the age of criminal responsibility in New York State and offers more accurate comparisons
to the arrest and summonses trends.

13

Rebecca Neusteter. We are also deeply thankful to our colleagues at the Office of Court
Administration (OCA), Systems Analyst Carolyn Cadoret, Senior Management Analyst
Karen Kane, and New York City Criminal Court Chief Clerk Justin Barry. Many other
colleagues in government, and among the John Jay faculty, have provided critical
feedback on this work as it has unfolded and we appreciate their engagement with these
issues.
Finally, we are only able to conduct this work with the generous support of the Laura
and John Arnold Foundation. We are deeply indebted to Anne Milgram, the Vice
President of Criminal Justice and Virginia Bersch, Deputy Director of National
Implementation, Criminal Justice. The Foundation has always understood the
importance of this work and has encouraged us to continue to delve further into our
analyses. With their support we will next expand our work to look at issues of pretrial
detention and police use of stationhouse release. They have encouraged us to see the
links between our work and the larger framework of the nation’s pretrial process, the
challenges of police legitimacy, and the proper functioning of the criminal justice
system. We are grateful for their ambitions for our work.
As with our two prior reports, we have presented this report at a forum provided by the
Citizens Crime Commission. We thank the Commission’s President, Richard Aborn,
and its Board and his team Ashley Cannon and Colin Wolfgang for providing this forum
and their continuing support of the Misdemeanor Justice Project. Finally, the
Misdemeanor Justice Project owes its vitality and integrity to a spectacular team at John
Jay, headed up by Dr. Preeti Chauhan, who has demonstrated impressive intellectual
leadership of this ground-breaking initiative. Other members of this talented team
include Ervin Balazon, Adam Fera, Olive Lu, Todd Warner, and Megan Welsh. They
have launched an important contribution to our understanding of an understudied
aspect of our criminal justice system.
Jeremy Travis
President
John Jay College of Criminal Justice

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GOALS OF THE REPORT
This report seeks to better understand longitudinal trends in the different types of
enforcement actions that bring the public into contact with law enforcement officials.
Our primary analyses focus on four types of enforcement activity: the issuance of
criminal summonses (C-summonses); stop, question, and frisk actions (SQF);
misdemeanor arrests; and felony arrests. We recognize that other types of enforcement
actions occur, such as moving violation summonses, parking summonses, and Transit
Adjudication Bureau (TAB) summonses. However, longitudinal and demographic data
are not available for these enforcement activities. Therefore, we examine trends only for
arrests, stops, and C-summonses from 2003 to 2014 in New York City as a whole and by
age, gender, and race/ethnicity (when data are available).
This is the third technical report in a series of reports released from the Misdemeanor
Justice Project (MJP). Our first two reports, Trends in Misdemeanor Arrests in New
York5 and The Summons Report: Trends in the Issuance and Disposition of
Summonses in New York City,6 were released in October 2014 and April 2015,
respectively. In addition to examining demographic characteristics, these reports
unpacked trends in charges, dispositions, and sentences for misdemeanor arrests and Csummonses. The present report takes a step back from these two reports and examines
the macro-level volume of police enforcement actions using multiple metrics.
The aims of this report are three-fold: (1) to document trends in different types of
enforcement actions that occur between the public and law enforcement officials in New
York City for the past twelve years; (2) to compare these different types of enforcement
actions by demographics; and (3) to contribute to current policy discussions on police
enforcement actions. As with all MJP reports, we do not offer in-depth interpretation,
make causal inferences regarding the results, or provide policy recommendations.
The four take-home messages from this report are the following:
1. Overall, enforcement activity increased considerably until 2011 and substantially
decreased over the following three years. These trends were driven primarily by
the substantial increase and decrease in reported stops, and secondarily by Csummonses and misdemeanors.
2. Trends observed for enforcement activities differed among the demographic
groups. Over the course of the study period, men, young people, and
racial/ethnic minorities experienced the greatest amount of fluctuation in
enforcement rates. Alternatively, enforcement rates for women, older age
groups, and Whites remained relatively constant.
Please find our first report here:
http://johnjay.jjay.cuny.edu/files/web_images/10_28_14_TOCFINAL.pdf
6 Please find our second report here:
http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/news/Summons_Report_DRAFT_4_24_2015_v8.pdf
5

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3. There were differences in enforcement activity between the demographic groups.
For instance, the gender gap in enforcement rates between men and women
decreased while gaps between the youngest and oldest age groups; and
racial/ethnic groups were more varied.
4. From 2011 to 2014, there have been approximately 800,000 fewer enforcement
activities including felony arrests, misdemeanor arrests, C-summonses, moving
violation summonses, and stops.

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DEFINITIONS AND DATA ON ENFORCEMENT
For the purposes of this report, enforcement is defined as an action involving a member
of the public and a law enforcement official that involves: a reported stop for
questioning; the issuance of a criminal summons (C-summons); or an arrest. We
provide totals and rates for each of these types of enforcement as well as totals and rates
for the combined types of enforcement. For one analysis, we include moving violation
summonses (Figure 4) to highlight the fact that our data do not capture some high
volume enforcement activities (approximately 1 million moving violation summonses
are issued per year).
The data used in this report were provided by the following sources: the New York State
Office of Court Administration (OCA), the New York State Division of Criminal Justice
Services (DCJS); the New York City Police Department (NYPD); and the United States
Census Bureau.
All the data provided by the OCA, DCJS, and NYPD are the property of that respective
agency. Any further use of these data must be approved by the appropriate agency. Any
points of view or opinions contained within this document are those of the authors and
do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the OCA, DCJS, or NYPD.
Brief descriptions of the data and each type of enforcement activity are provided below:
Criminal Summonses (C-summonses): These data were provided by the OCA.
Our data include demographics, charge, disposition, issuing agency, sentence, and
warrant information for all C-summonses issued in New York City from 2003 to 2014.
This includes data from the Summons Automated Management System (SAMS), the two
community courts (Midtown Community Court and Red Hook Community Justice
System), and defective (not docketed) summonses. Notably, we cannot disaggregate
these data by race/ethnicity because this information has not been consistently captured
on the C-summons form.
A C-summons is issued for an alleged low-level violation of the law such as an
administrative code, penal law, or vehicle and traffic law, and others. The most frequent
charges include public consumption of alcohol, disorderly conduct, public urination,
park offenses, and riding a bicycle on the sidewalk. Summonses can be issued to
individuals or corporations by more than 40 certified agencies. We include only
individuals in our analysis.7
Felony Arrests: Data on felony arrests from 1980 to 2014 were made available by the
DCJS. The data provide information on arrestee demographics, charge, disposition, and
sentence information for each arrest. Notably, only arrests that were made in New York
For a more detailed review of the C-summons process, please see, The Summons Report: Trends in the
issuance and dispositions of summonses in New York City, 2003-2013 (Chauhan et al, 2015).
7

17

City by the New York Police Department were included in the analyses. Further, all
felony arrests of individuals below 16 years of age were excluded from the analyses with
the exception of Figures 2 and 4.
Misdemeanor Arrests: Data on misdemeanor arrests came from two sources: the
DCJS and the NYPD. DCJS data were available from 1980 to 2014 and were used for
Figures 2 and 3. DCJS data, however, only include fingerprintable misdemeanors.
Therefore, for the majority of the analyses, we used NYPD data which includes both
fingerprintable and non-fingerprintable arrests.8 For misdemeanor arrests, with the
exception of Figure 4, we exclude anyone under the age of 16.
Moving Violation Summonses: We downloaded data on moving violation
summonses from 2011 to 2014 from www.nyc.gov/nypd. We used the city-wide year-todate totals for December for 2011, 2012, and 2014. For 2013, the December file was not
available and thus we used the year-to-date total through November, 2013. Therefore,
the 2013 numbers are missing December 2013 data and will be lower than the other
three years.
A moving violation summons is a summons given for some traffic violations. The most
frequent charges include not wearing a seat belt, using your cell phone while driving,
disobeying a sign, having tinted windows, and speeding. Notably, these do not include
parking violation summonses.
Stop, Question, and Frisk: We downloaded the stop, question, and frisk data for
2003 to 2014 from www.nyc.gov/nypd. These data include the demographics of the
person stopped, the reason for the stop, whether a search was conducted, whether an
arrest was made, and whether physical force was used. For all analyses except Figures 2
and 4, we excluded anyone under the age of 16 or over the age of 99 because such an age
did not seem viable (e.g., 919).
According to the NYPD website, a stop, question, and frisk encounter is defined as: “All
street encounters between New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers and
citizens within New York City resulting in the completion of a Unified Form 250” (UF
250). New York City Police Department policy mandates that officers complete a UF250 under four specific circumstances: when a suspect is (1) “stopped” by the use of
force; (2) frisked and/or “searched”; (3) arrested; or (4) “stopped” and the suspect
refused to identify him or herself. 9
It is important to note that stops that do not meet the above criteria may not be included
in the data. Therefore, these data only reflect reported stops, rather than all stops.
Please see John Jay’s Center for Race, Crime and Justice Primer for a more detailed
analysis of stop, question, and frisk data.10
A list of which charges are fingerprintable or not are found here:
http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/ccman/ccman.htm.
9http://www.oag.state.ny.us/sites/default/files/pdfs/bureaus/civil_rights/stp_frsk.pdf.
10http://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/sites/default/files/uploads/SQF_Primer_July_2013.pdf
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United States Census Bureau: We gathered population counts from Infoshare.org
and Dataferrett.census.gov. We used population counts from Infoshare.org for years
1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010. Linear interpolation was used to calculate the population
base for the years between the end points. To update these counts, we used
Dataferrett.census.gov for years 2011 to 2014. We pulled data for total, age, race, and
sex demographics.
We present analyses by raw numbers and population rates. Raw numbers are helpful
for understanding broad trends over time. Rates allow for estimates based on
population across the time period under examination. Notably, all rates are population
specific. For instance, rates for 16-17 year-old males are based on the number of 16-17
year-old males in that given year in New York City. All the rates in this report were
calculated per 100,000 in the population. Furthermore, for ease of interpretation,
percentages are often reported below when describing various enforcement rates in the
population. For instance, an enforcement rate of 15,805 per 100,000 population would
be equivalent to an enforcement rate of 15.8 percent. To clarify, these percentages
represent the enforcements per 100,000 in the population and not the percentage of
people in the population who experience an enforcement action.
There are limitations to using Census data. First, as other scholars have noted, Census
data are based on individuals who live in New York City. These data do not include the
number of people who come into the city for work, school, or for tourism. A 2010
estimate11 of how commuting changes New York City’s weekday population indicates a
net gain of about 608,000 people (or a 7.5 percent increase in the daytime population).
Other estimates indicate that Manhattan’s population doubles during the daytime.12
Second, certain demographic groups are consistently miscounted in Census data,
including Blacks and Hispanics.13 For instance, the Census overcounted non-Hispanic
Whites by 1.1 percent in 2000 and by 0.8 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, Blacks were
undercounted in the Census by 1.8 percent in 2000 and by 2.1 percent in 2010.
Hispanics were also undercounted by 0.7 percent in 2000 and 1.5 percent in 2010.14
Third, Census data do not account for the homeless, a population likely to have high
contact with law enforcement officials. Statistics indicate that in December, 2014, the

For more information on daytime population estimates, see:
http://www.census.gov/hhes/commuting/data/acs2006_2010.html and
https://www.census.gov/hhes/commuting/files/ACS/top20-commuter-adjusted-population.pdf
12
See http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/commuters-nearly-double-manhattans-daytimepopulation-census-says/
13 Williams, J. (2012). The 2010 Decennial Census: Background and Issues. Washington, D.C.: The
Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from: http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40551.pdf
14 U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). DSSD 2010 Census Coverage Measurement Memorandum Series #2010G-01. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved
from: http://www.census.gov/coverage_measurement/pdfs/g01.pdf.
11

19

number of homeless people in New York City shelters was 60,939.15 Non-shelter
estimates are likely higher.
Fourth, a single person can have multiple enforcement actions with law enforcement
officials in one year. For instance, one person may have a misdemeanor arrest and a Csummons issued in the same year. Alternatively, a single person can be stopped
multiple times within a given year. Further, multiple C-summonses (up to 10) can be
issued to a person during a single incident. Therefore, we do not consider our rates as
population rates but rather as enforcement action rates.
While we acknowledge these limitations, we believe it is still informative to calculate
rates over time given population fluctuations, changing demographics, and population
bases, especially for varying age groups. Further, longitudinal trends are still
noteworthy given that these limitations are consistent over the entire time span. To
complement the rates, we also provide raw numbers.
Please note that combined enforcement rate totals differ based on the availability of
reliable data for any given analysis. For instance, information on race was not available
for C-summonses. Therefore, these data were not included in the calculation of
enforcement rates for race (e.g. Figure 18-26), and differ from enforcement rates that
include C-summonses in prior figures (e.g. Figure 5-17).

See: Coalition for the Homeless website. (2014). Number of Homeless People in NYC Shelters Each
Night. Retrieved from: http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/the-catastrophe-of-homelessness/factsabout-homelessness/.
15

20

NUMBERS AND RATES FOR ENFORCEMENT: OVERALL
The following graphs present the cumulative number of enforcement actions and
enforcement rates in New York City. The first figure includes moving violation
summonses to illustrate that there are high volume enforcement actions that our data
do not capture because the numbers are not available prior to 2011. We are also unable
to include parking violations and TAB summonses.
Figure 4:
Number of Enforcement Actions in New York City 2011-2014

3,000,000
2,500,000

Stop, Question, and Frisk

2,000,000

Moving Violation
Summonses

1,500,000

C-Summonses

1,000,000

Misdemeanor Arrests
Felony Arrests

500,000
0
2011

2012

2013

2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests, Moving Summonses and Stops, and Office of Court Administration for Criminal
Summonses.

Figure 4 illustrates the number of enforcement actions in New York City, which include
all moving violation summonses,16 C-summonses, stops, and arrests from 2011-2014. In
terms of raw numbers, there was a peak in 2011 with 2,631,004 combined enforcement
actions. This was followed by a steady decline each year, ending in 2014 with 1,826,254
enforcement actions. There were 804,750 fewer enforcement actions over this four-year
span using these metrics.17

16
17

As noted previously, moving violations for 2013 do not include December as the data were not available.
Numbers presented here include enforcement activities for all ages.

21

The largest decrease occurred for stops from a peak of 685,724 in 2011 to a low of 45,787
in 2014. There were also decreases in the issuance of C-summonses from 507,982 in
2011 to 369,058 in 2014. Misdemeanor arrests also declined from 286,327 in 2011 to
259,600 in 2014.
Moving violation summonses accounted for the greatest proportion of enforcement
actions during these four years, ranging from 40.4 percent in 2011 to 58.2 percent of
enforcement activity in 2014. Notably, during this time period, stops went from the
second highest enforcement action within a given year (i.e., 2011) to the lowest
enforcement action in 2014: stops declined from 26.1 percent of all enforcement actions
in 2011 to 2.5 percent in 2014. In 2014, C-summonses accounted for 20.2 percent of all
enforcement actions, misdemeanor arrests accounted for 14.2 percent and felony arrests
accounted for 4.9 percent. Moving violation summonses are not included in the
subsequent analyses because data were limited to four years and demographic
breakdown was not available.18

18

All subsequent figures and analyses include only enforcement activities with adults age 16 or older.

22

Figure 5:
Enforcement Rates in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, Office of Court Administration for Criminal Summonses, and United
States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

Figure 5 shows the individual and combined enforcement action rates in New York City
for felony and misdemeanor arrests, C-summonses, and stops. The combined
enforcement rate began the study period in 2003 at 15,805 per 100,000 or 15.8 percent,
rose sharply over the next three years to 21,956 per 100,000 or 22.0 percent and finally
peaked at 22,820 per 100,000 or 22.8 percent in 2011. Since then, the combined
enforcement rate has declined to 11,124 per 100,000 or 11.1 percent in 2014. Stated
differently, the enforcement rate was lower in 2014 compared to 2003. In terms of raw
numbers, there were 1,007,924 enforcement actions in 2003, peaking at 1,521,796 in
2011, and then dipping to 758,613 enforcement actions in 2014. Notably, this combined

23

enforcement rate will be used as a reference point called New York City enforcement
rate in subsequent figures.
With regard to individual enforcement rates, the felony arrest rate remained relatively
low and fairly stable during this time period, fluctuating between 1.4 percent in 2003 to
1.3 percent in 2014, peaking at 1.6 percent in 2007. The number of felony arrests was
87,806 in 2003, which rose to 101,671 in 2007, and then declined to 89,306 in 2014.
The misdemeanor arrest rate rose from 3.4 percent in 2003 to a peak of 4.3 percent in
2010, and then decreased to 3.8 percent in 2014. In raw numbers, there were 217,275
misdemeanor arrests in 2003, followed by a peak of 284,307 in 2010, and a decline to
256,754 in 2014.
The C-summons issuance rate began at 8.7 percent in 2003, rose slightly to 9.4 percent
in 2005 and has since steadily declined, ending 2014 at 5.4 percent. In 2003, 557,723 Csummonses were issued. This number rose to a peak of 607,195 in 2006, and then
steadily declined to 369,058 in 2014.
Stops rose from 2.3 percent in 2003 to 7.4 percent in 2006 before peaking at 9.7 percent
in 2011. This was followed by a sharp three-year decline to a low of 0.6 percent in 2014,
a 93.8 percent decrease from 2011. The absolute number of stops was 145,120 in 2003,
peaked at 647,465 in 2011, dropped to 502,904 in 2012, and then fell sharply to 43,495
in 2014.

24

ENFORCEMENT RATES: GENDER
The figures presented below illustrate the trends in New York City by gender from 2003
to 2014. Overall, males have a substantially higher enforcement rate compared to
females. We observed similar gender differences in our misdemeanor report and
summons report. Further, the New York City enforcement rate in Figures 6 and 7 below
provide a reference point for the combined enforcement rate for felony arrests,
misdemeanor arrests, C-summonses, and stops among all individuals 16 and older to
allow for comparisons between the demographic breakdowns.
Figure 6:
Enforcement Rates for Males in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, Office of Court Administration for Criminal Summonses, and United
States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

25

As demonstrated in Figure 6, the male combined enforcement rate began the study
period in 2003 at 28.6 percent before rising to 40.1 percent in 2006. The male
combined enforcement rate then declined slightly from 2006 to 2007, but continued to
increase through 2011, resulting in a second distinct peak at 42.2 percent. Since that
time, the combined enforcement rate for males has dropped sharply, declining to 19.6
percent in 2014. From the 2011 peak, this is a 41.6 percent decline. Even with this
decline, the male combined enforcement rate was consistently higher throughout the
twelve years than the enforcement rate for all individuals over the age of 16. In terms of
raw numbers, in 2003 there were 848,427 enforcement actions for males in New York
City, eventually peaking to 1,313,970 in 2011 followed by a decline to 625,786 in 2014.
The felony arrest rate for males during this time period was relatively constant,
beginning at 2.5 percent in 2003 and ending 2014 at 2.3 percent. There were 75,193
felony arrests of males in 2003, and this number did not vary much, ending 2014 with
75,073 arrests.
The misdemeanor arrest rate for males started at 6.2 percent in 2003, rose steadily from
6.3 percent in 2005 to 7.8 percent in 2010, and then declined to 6.6 percent in 2014.
Overall, there were 181,102 misdemeanor arrests of males in 2003. This number rose
over the next seven years to 234,982 in 2010 before declining to 209,815 in 2014.
The issuance rate of C-summonses also shows a decrease, starting at 15.7 percent in
2003, peaking at 16.7 percent in 2005 and then declining steadily to 9.4 percent in 2014.
In raw numbers, 466,384 C-summonses were issued to males in 2003. This number
gradually declined to 300,429 in 2014.
The stop rate increased substantially, growing from 4.2 percent in 2003 to 19.0 percent
in 2011 and ending 2014 at a low of 1.3 percent. In 2003, there were 125,748 stops
involving males. This number peaked in 2011 at 592,858, and then fell substantially
over the next four years to 40,469 in 2014.

26

Figure 7:
Enforcement Rates for Females in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, Office of Court Administration for Criminal Summonses, and United
States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

As illustrated in Figure 7, the combined enforcement rate for females is substantially
lower than for males and the enforcement rate for all individuals over the age of 16 (i.e.,
the NYC enforcement rate). Females started the study period with a 2.8 percent
combined enforcement rate. This peaked slightly to 4.8 percent in 2010 and then
declined to 2.9 percent in 2014. Notably, the combined enforcement rate for females
peaked in 2010 at 4.8 percent while the combined enforcement rate for males (see
Figure 6) peaked in 2011 at 42.2 percent. Furthermore, female rates were far more
stable, ranging between 2.8 percent to 4.8 percent while male enforcement rates were
substantially more varied, ranging between 19.6 percent and 42.2 percent. In terms of

27

raw numbers for females, there were 111,850 enforcement actions in 2003 and 105,626
in 2014.
The rate of felony arrests for females, similar to males, followed a relatively stable trend,
beginning at 0.3 percent in 2003 and ending at 0.4 percent in 2014. There were 12,604
felony arrests of females in 2003, a peak of 16,370 in 2008, and a slight decrease to
14,233 in 2014.
The misdemeanor arrest rate followed a similar trend, but at a higher rate, compared to
felony arrests. In 2003, the misdemeanor arrest rate for females was 0.9 percent. This
rate peaked at 1.5 percent in 2011, and then decreased to 1.3 percent in 2014. Female
misdemeanor arrests were 36,173 in 2003, rose to a high of 49,867 in 2011, and declined
to 46,939 in 2014.
Although never rising above 1.9 percent, the issuance rate of C-summonses was the most
frequent type of enforcement action for females. The summons issuance rate began the
study period in 2003 at 1.4 percent, increased slightly to a peak of 1.9 percent in 2010,
then declined to 1.2 percent. The raw number of C-summonses issued to females in
2003 was 54,250 and finished at 41,785 in 2014.
For females, the stop rate was the lowest among the four types of enforcement,
beginning in 2003 at 0.2 percent, peaking at 1.2 percent in 2011, then declining to a
twelve year low of 0.1 percent in 2014. Interestingly, the overall pattern was similar to
males but much lower in terms of the raw number of stops. For instance, the total
number of stop encounters for females was 8,823 in 2003, peaked at 43,307 in 2011,
and dropped to 2,669 in 2014.
Here we describe ratios using the female enforcement rate as the base. We use three
time points to discuss the ratios: the beginning of the study period, the 2011 peak in
combined enforcement rate (for consistency, rather than the specific enforcement
activity being discussed), and the end of the study period. In 2003, males had an
enforcement rate 10.3 times higher compared to females. This difference dropped t0
9.0 in 2011 and declined further to 6.7 in 2014. Therefore, the gap in enforcement rate
between males and females narrowed over the twelve year period.

28

ENFORCEMENT RATES: AGE-RELATED TRENDS
The figures presented below illustrate trends in enforcement actions for New York City
by age groups (16-17, 18-20, 21-24, 25-34 and 35 and older) from 2003 to 2014. The age
ranges chosen were based on policy (e.g., the age of criminal responsibility in New York,
more common age of criminal responsibility in other states, the legal drinking age) and
research on developmental patterns of antisocial activity (e.g., individuals 35 and older
usually “age out” of antisocial activity).
Notably, the New York City enforcement rate in Figures 8 through 13 below provide a
reference point for the combined enforcement rate for felony arrests, misdemeanor
arrests, C-summonses, and stops among all individuals 16 and older to allow for
comparisons between the demographic breakdowns.

29

Figure 8:
Enforcement Rates for all Age Groups in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, Office of Court Administration for Criminal Summonses, and United
States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

As illustrated in Figure 8, younger age groups had consistently higher combined
enforcement rates compared to older age groups with the exception of the 18-20 yearold group being higher than the 16-17 year-old group. The four younger age groups (1617, 18-20, 21-24, 25-34) were also above the combined enforcement rates for all
individuals above the age of 16.
The combined enforcement rate for 16-17 year-olds was the second highest among the
five age groups for much of the time period, and followed a similar pattern to the 18-20
year-old age group. The enforcement rate for 16-17 year-olds was 30.3 percent in 2003.
It then increased sharply, reaching 56.1 percent in 2006 before declining slightly and
30

then reaching its highest point in 2011, at 63.0 percent. The enforcement rate then fell
by 69.2 percent to a low of 19.4 percent in 2014. For this age group, the raw number of
enforcement actions was 62,791 in 2003, followed by an increase to 125,022 in 2011,
and then a sharp decline over the next four years to 37,285.
The enforcement rate for 18-20 year-olds remained the highest out of all age groups,
and there were substantial changes in these rates throughout the twelve year span. In
2003, the combined enforcement rate for 18-20 year-olds was 36.6 percent. This rate
climbed to an initial peak of 59.2 percent in 2006, dipped slightly in 2007, and then
reached a higher peak of 67.4 percent in 2011. The rate of enforcement for 18-20 yearolds then fell sharply–by 63.5 percent–to a twelve year low of 24.6 percent in 2014. The
raw numbers of enforcement actions for 18-20 year olds also reflects these large
fluctuations during the study. In 2003, there were 121,108 enforcement actions for 1820 year-olds, a peak of 226,335 in 2011, and then a sharp decline to 78,849 in 2014.
The combined enforcement rate for the 21-24 year-old age group remained lower than
the two younger age groups for much of the study period, beginning at 30.0 percent in
2003 and then rising to its highest peak of 50.4 percent in 2011. The enforcement rate
for this age group also declined substantially between 2011 and 2014 to 23.5 percent, but
the decline was smaller–53.4 percent–than for 16-17 year-olds and 18-20 year-olds, thus
the 21-24 year-olds ended 2014 with the second highest enforcement rate. The number
of enforcement actions for 21-24 year-olds began at 147,397 in 2003, increased to
261,797 in 2011 before dropping off to 121,397 in 2014, which was the lowest number of
enforcement actions observed for this age group during the study period.
The remaining two age groups saw similar increases and decreases over the study
period, but the peaks and troughs were far less pronounced. The combined enforcement
rate for 25-34 year-olds was 18.5 percent in 2003. This rate peaked in 2010 at 28.5
percent, and then declined by 47.4 percent to 15.0 percent in 2014. The number of
enforcement actions was 254,767 in 2003 and declined to 220,599 in 2014.
For the 35 years and older age group, the combined enforcement rate grew from 10.4
percent in 2003 to a peak of 13.0 percent in 2006, and then slowly but steadily declined
by 46.9 percent to 6.9 percent in 2014. Overall, the absolute number of enforcement
actions for this age group began at 412,831 in 2003, peaked at 526,121 in 2006, and fell
to 297,153 enforcement actions in 2014.
It is important to note that the two oldest age groups (25-34 and 35 and older) contain
the largest numbers of people compared to the younger age groups (16-17, 18-20, and
21-24). Therefore, these older age groups will have the greatest number of enforcement
actions while having relatively lower enforcement rates.
Here we describe ratios using the 35 and older enforcement rate as the base. Again, we
use three time points to discuss the ratios: the beginning of the study period, the 2011
peak in combined enforcement rate (for consistency, rather than the specific
enforcement activity being discussed), and the end of the study period.

31

In 2003, the enforcement rate was 2.9 times higher for 16-17 year-olds compared to
those 35 years and older. This difference increased to 5.3 in 2011 and then decreased to
2.9 in 2014, starting and ending with similar ratios.
There was a similar pattern for 18-20 year-olds. In 2003, the enforcement rate was 3.5
times higher for 18-20 year-olds compared to those 35 and older. This difference
increased to 5.6 in 2011 and then decreased to 3.6 in 2014. Again, starting and ending
with similar ratios.
Similar to the younger age groups, the enforcement rate for 21-24 year-olds was 2.8
times higher than for those 35 and older in 2003, increased to 4.2 in 2011 and decreased
slightly to 3.4 in 2014. The difference in enforcement rates between 25-34 year-olds and
those 35 and older was less pronounced, beginning at 1.8 in 2003, increasing to 2.4 in
2011, and then falling to 2.2 in 2014. For the older age groups, the ratios were higher in
2014 compared to the 2003 starting point.

32

Figure 9:
Enforcement Rates for Ages 16-17 in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, Office of Court Administration for Criminal Summonses, and United
States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

As illustrated in Figure 9, the combined enforcement rate for 16-17 year-olds has two
distinct peaks during this twelve year span, the first occurring in 2006 mostly as a result
of spiking rates in summonses and stops, and the second occurring in 2011 driven by the
large increase in the stop rate. The combined enforcement rate began the study period
in 2003 at 30.3 percent, rose over the next three years to the first peak in 2006 with 56.1
percent. After a slight dip the following year, another increase in enforcement activities
was observed from 2007 to 2011, where a second peak occurred at 63.0 percent. In
2014, the rate of combined enforcement for 16-17 year-olds fell sharply to 19.4 percent.
The combined enforcement rate for this age group remained consistently higher than
the combined enforcement rates for all individuals over age 16. In terms of raw
33

numbers, there were 62,791 enforcement actions for 16-17 year olds in 2003. This
number peaked at 125,022 in 2011, and has since declined to 37,285 in 2014.
With regard to specific rates of enforcement actions for 16-17 year-olds, the felony arrest
rate was relatively low and stable throughout the study period fluctuating from 3.4
percent in 2003, to 2.5 percent in 2014, peaking at 3.8 percent in 2008. The raw
number of felony arrests for this age group was 7,103 in 2003, followed by a slight
increase to 7,895 in 2008, and then a decline to 4,768 in 2014.
The rate of misdemeanor arrests rose modestly from 6.7 percent in 2003 to a peak of
10.3 percent in 2010, and then fell to 7.3 percent in 2014. The overall number of
misdemeanor arrests for 16-17 year-olds was 13,856 in 2003, followed by a peak of
21,536 in 2010, and a steady decline to 14,044 in 2014.
The issuance rate of C-summonses rose from 12.3 percent in 2003 to a peak of 18.9
percent in 2006. Following a sharp drop in 2007, C-summonses for 16-17 year-olds
declined relatively steadily between 2008 and 2014, from 15.5 percent to 7.6 percent. In
terms of raw numbers, 25,429 C-summonses were issued in 2003, increasing to 39,274
in 2006, and then declining steadily to 14,645 in 2014.
Stops accounted for the largest proportion of the combined enforcement rate for 16-17
year-olds. Stops also had the greatest amount of variation among the four enforcement
types. In 2003, the rate of stops was 7.9 percent, which increased to 25.4 percent in
2006, followed by a slight drop in 2007 and a subsequent increase between 2008 and
2011, from 25.5 percent to 35.3 percent. From 2011 to 2014, the rate of reported stops
fell to 2.0 percent, a drop of 94.3 percent from its peak. Overall, the raw number of
stops for this age group rose from 16,403 in 2003 to 70,070 in 2011, and then dropped
to a low of 3,828 in 2014.

34

Figure 10:
Enforcement Rates for Ages 18-20 in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, Office of Court Administration for Criminal Summonses, and United
States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

Figure 10 shows the individual and combined enforcement rates for 18-20 year-olds in
New York City from 2003 to 2014. The combined enforcement rate began the study
period in 2003 at 36.6 percent, which rose to 59.2 percent in 2006 and subsequently
peaked at 67.4 percent in 2011. Since then, the rate of enforcement for 18-20 year-olds
fell drastically to 24.6 percent in 2014. Again, the combined enforcement rate for 18-20
year-olds was consistently higher than the combined enforcement rates for all
individuals over age 16. Overall, the raw number of enf0rcement actions was 121,108 in
2003, peaked at 226,335 in 2011, and fell over the next three years to 78,849 in 2014.

35

As with the other trends, the felony arrest rate for 18-20 year-olds in New York City was
also relatively low and stable throughout the study period fluctuating from 3.8 percent
in 2003, to 3.0 percent in 2014 with a peak of 4.0 percent in 2007. In terms of raw
numbers, there were 12,640 felony arrests in 2003, a peak of 13,706 in 2007, and then
fell to a low of 9,649 in 2014.
The misdemeanor arrest rate followed a relatively stable trend rising modestly from 8.1
percent in 2003 to 11.1 percent in 2011, followed by a decrease to 8.7 percent in 2014.
Overall, for 18-20 year-olds, there were 26,721 misdemeanor arrests in 2003, a peak of
38,470 in 2010, and a subsequent decrease to 27,823 arrests in 2014.
The C-summons issuance rate for 18-20 year-olds in New York City began at 15.3
percent in 2003, rose slightly to 20.0 percent in 2006, and fell to 10.4 percent in 2014.
The raw number of C-summonses issued for this age group was 50,727 in 2003, peaked
at 67,810 in 2006, and ended at 33,432 in 2014.
The stop rate accounted for the largest proportion of the combined enforcement rate for
18-20 year-olds in New York City for most of the study period. Stops increased in a
similar manner to the overall rate above, beginning at 9.4 percent in 2003, rising to 26.7
percent in 2006 and eventually peaking at 36.0 percent in 2011. This peak was followed
by a sharp, 93.1 percent drop to 2.5 percent in 2014. In terms of raw numbers, there
were 31,020 stops in 2003, which peaked at 120,916 in 2011, and then fell to 7,945 in
2014, the lowest number of stops over this twelve year span.

36

Figure 11:
Enforcement Rates for Ages 21-24 in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, Office of Court Administration for Criminal Summonses, and United
States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

Figure 11 illustrates the specific and combined enforcement rates for 21-24 year-olds in
New York City from 2003 to 2014. The combined enforcement rate for 21-24 year-olds
was 30.0 percent at the beginning of the study period, rose to 42.8 percent in 2006, and
rose yet again to peak at 50.4 percent in 2011. From 2011 to 2014, the combined
enforcement rate fell to 23.5 percent in 2014, representing a 53.4 percent decrease. As
with the younger age groups, the combined enforcement rate for 21-24 year-olds was
higher than the combined enforcement rates for all individuals over age 16. There were
147,397 enforcement actions in 2003, which peaked at 261,797 in 2011, and then fell to a
low of 121,397 in 2014.

37

As with other trends, felony arrests accounted for the smallest proportion of the
combined enforcement rate for 21-24 year-olds in New York City. In 2003, the felony
arrest rate was 3.0 percent and ended at 2.8 percent in 2014, with a peak of 3.1 percent
in 2007. In terms of raw numbers, there were 14,552 felony arrests in 2003, which
peaked at 15,724 in 2007, and subsequently dropped to 14,677 arrests in 2014.
The misdemeanor arrest rate increased and ended at a higher level than its starting
point in 2003. From 2003 to 2011, the misdemeanor arrest rate for 21-24 year-olds in
New York City rose from 6.7 percent to 8.6 percent. At the end of the study period in
2014, the misdemeanor arrest rate for this age group was 7.9 percent. In terms of raw
numbers, there were 32,985 misdemeanor arrests in 2003. This increased to 44,779 in
2011 and then declined to 40,667 in 2014.
The issuance rate of C-summonses for 21-24 year-olds began at 14.4 percent in 2003,
rose slightly to peak at 16.8 percent in 2005, followed by a decrease and another
increase to 16.1 percent in 2010. In 2014, the issuance rate fell to 11.1 percent. In 2003,
there were 71,060 summonses issued for 21-24 year-olds. The number of summonses
issued rose to 84,257 in 2006 and then fell to 57,166 in 2014.
The enforcement rate of stops for 21-24 year-olds experienced the greatest amount of
variation over the study period. In 2003, the stop rate began at 5.9 percent, and then
increased to a peak of 23.9 percent in 2011. This was followed by a sharp drop to a
twelve year low of 1.7 percent in 2014; a 92.8 percent decline. Overall, the raw number
of stops was 28,800 in 2003, which peaked at 123,955 in 2011, and subsequently fell
over the next four years to 8,887 in 2014.
.

38

Figure 12:
Enforcement Rates for Ages 25-34 in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, Office of Court Administration for Criminal Summonses, and United
States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

As shown in Figure 12, the combined enforcement rate for 25-34 year-olds began the
study period at 18.5 percent in 2003, peaked at 28.5 percent in 2010, then declined
sharply to a low of 15.0 percent in 2014. The combined enforcement rate for 25-34 yearolds was higher than the enforcement rate for all individuals over age 16. However, the
two rates followed a similar pattern and had a smaller gap compared to the younger age
groups. The raw number of combined enforcement actions started at 254,767 in 2003,
increased to 401,292 in 2011, and then declined to 220,599 in 2014.

39

The felony arrest rate for 25-34 year-olds remained low and grew only slightly
throughout the time period, from 1.7 percent in 2003 to 1.8 percent in 2014, with a peak
of 1.9 percent in 2007. There were 23,267 felony arrests in 2003 and 26,870 in 2014.
The misdemeanor arrest rate for 25-34 year-olds rose slightly from 4.2 percent in 2003
to a peak of 5.4 percent in 2010, and then declined slightly to 5.1 percent in 2014. There
were 57,641 misdemeanor arrests in 2003, 75,516 in 2010, and 74,564 in 2014.
The issuance rate of C-summonses began at 10.1 percent in 2003, fluctuated between a
peak of 10.8 percent in 2005 and a slightly lower second peak of 10.4 percent in 2010,
and then fell to a low of 7.3 percent in 2014. There were 138,826 C-summonses issued
for 25-34 year-olds in 2003, which rose to 144,984 in 2010, and then fell to 107,193 in
2014.
Stops increased substantially over the study period for 25-34 year-olds. The rate of
stops more than tripled from 2.6 percent in 2003 to 8.7 percent in 2006 and then
climbing even further to 11.9 percent in 2011. Notably, in 2011, the stop rate surpassed
the C-summons issuance rate, and then fell sharply to 0.8 percent in 2014, a 93.3
percent decline. The number of stops rose from 35,033 in 2003 to a peak of 168,303 in
2011, and then fell to 11,972 in 2014.

40

Figure 13:
Enforcement Rates for Ages 35 and Older in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, Office of Courts Administration of Criminal Summonses, and United
States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

Figure 13 shows the combined enforcement rate for individuals 35 years and older as
well as the rates of the individual enforcement actions. The enforcement rates for this
age group were substantially lower than for all other age groups. The combined
enforcement rate for individuals 35 and older was lower than the enforcement rate for
all individuals over the age of 16. The combined enforcement rate began the study
period at 10.4 percent in 2003, peaked at 13.0 percent in 2006, dropped slightly and
plateaued through 2011 at 12.0 percent, then declined to 6.9 percent in 2014. In terms
of raw numbers, there were 412,831 enforcement actions in 2003, which peaked at
526,121 in 2006, and then fell to a low of 297,153 in 2014.

41

The felony arrest rate remained low and stable throughout the time period, fluctuating
from 0.7 percent in 2003 to a peak of 0.9 percent in 2007, and then falling to 0.8 in
2014. The raw numbers fluctuated from 30,244 in 2003 to 38,291 in 2007 to 33,342 in
2014.
The misdemeanor arrest rate rose slightly from 2.2 percent in 2003 to a peak of 2.6
percent in 2009 before declining to 2.3 percent in 2014. The total number of
misdemeanor arrests for those 35 years and older was 86,072 in 2003, increased to a
peak of 106,394 in 2009 and ended at 99,656 in 2014.
The issuance rate of C-summonses for those 35 and older began the study period at 6.6
percent in 2003 and steadily declined to 3.5 percent in 2014; a 47.0 percent decrease.
In 2003, there were 262,651 C-summonses issued, compared to 153,292 in 2014.
Stops increased from 0.9 percent in 2003 to 3.9 percent in 2011 before falling sharply to
0.3 percent in 2014, a 92.3 percent decrease for this age group. In terms of raw
numbers, stops started the study period at 33,864 in 2003, rose to 164,221 in 2011, and
then fell substantially to 10,863 in 2014.

42

ENFORCEMENT RATES: ENFORCEMENT TYPE WITH AGE
BREAKDOWN
Another way to examine the above numbers is to look at enforcement action by age
groups allowing us to more clearly examine age-related trends. The figures presented
below illustrate trends for each type of enforcement action and include all age groups in
New York City from 2003 to 2014. The black dotted lines in Figure 14 through 17 are
the enforcement rates for all individuals over age 16 for that specific enforcement action.
For raw numbers and rates regarding specific types of enforcement action, please refer
to the section above as they are provided for each age group.
Figure 14:
Felony Arrest Rates by Age Group in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services, and United States Census Bureau.

43

Figure 14 shows the enforcement rate of felony arrests for all age groups. The felony
arrest rates remained relatively stable over the entire study period. The highest felony
arrest rates were for 18-20 year-olds, which started and ended at 3.8 percent and 3.0
percent, respectively. In 2003, 16-17 year-olds had the second highest arrest rate at 3.4
percent, but had the third highest arrest rate in 2014 at 2.5 percent. Conversely, 21-24
year-olds began with the third highest arrest rate at 3.0 percent and ended with the
second highest rate at 2.8 percent. The 25-34 year-old group consistently had the
second lowest (1.7 percent to 1.9 percent) arrest rate. Individuals 35 years and older
consistently had the lowest arrest rate. Notably, the four younger age groups (16-17, 1820, 21-24, and 25-34) consistently had a higher felony arrest rate compared to that of all
individuals over the age of 16.
Here we describe ratios using the 35 and older felony arrest rate as the base. We use
three time points to discuss the ratios: the beginning of the study period, the 2011 peak
in combined enforcement rate (for consistency, rather than the specific enforcement
activity being discussed), and the end of the study period.
In 2003, the felony arrest rate was 4.5 times higher for 16-17 year-olds compared to
those 35 and older. This difference decreased to 4.1 in 2011 and further decreased to 3.2
in 2014. There was a similar pattern for 18-20 year-olds. In 2003, the felony arrest rate
was 5.0 times higher for 18-20 year-olds compared to those 35 and older. This
difference decreased to 4.4 in 2011 and then to 3.9 in 2014. In both cases, the ratio was
lower in 2014 compared to 2003.
Unlike the younger age groups, the difference in felony arrest rates remained relatively
similar for 21-24 year-olds and for 25-34 year-olds compared to those 35 and older. The
felony arrest rate for 21-24 year-olds was 3.9 times higher compared to 35 and older in
2003. This difference decreased to 3.6 in 2011 and increased slightly to 3.7 in 2014. The
difference in felony arrest rates between 25-34 year-olds and those 35 and older was
consistent over the twelve year span, 2.2 in 2003, 2.2 in 2011 and 2.4 in 2014.

44

Figure 15:
Misdemeanor Arrest Rates by Age Group in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: New York City Police Department, and United States Census Bureau.

Figure 15 shows the enforcement rate of misdemeanor arrests for our five age groups.
These trends showed more variability than the felony arrest rates. Similar to the felony
arrest rates, misdemeanor arrest rates for 18-20 year-olds began (8.1 percent) and
ended (8.7 percent) the study period with the highest rates compared to the other age
groups. In both 2003 and 2014, 21-24 year-olds had the second highest arrest rate at
6.7 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively. The 16-17 year-olds had the third highest
misdemeanor arrest rates starting at 6.7 percent (note this was slightly lower than 21-24
year-olds but appears the same due to rounding) and ending at 7.3 percent. Notably,
the 16-17 year-olds rates surpassed the 21-24 year-olds rates at certain points during the
study period (e.g. 2011). Similar to felony arrest rates, the 25-34 year-old age group
consistently had the second lowest (4.2 percent in 2003 to 5.1 percent in 2014)

45

misdemeanor arrest rate. Individuals 35 and older consistently had the lowest arrest
rate, beginning at 2.2 percent and ending at 2.3 percent. Again, the four younger age
groups (16-17, 18-20, 21-24, and 25-34) had higher misdemeanor arrest rates compared
to the misdemeanor arrest rate for all individuals over age 16.
Here we describe ratios using the 35 and older misdemeanor arrest rate as the base. In
2003, the misdemeanor arrest rate for 16-17 year-olds was 3.1 times higher compared to
those 35 and older. This difference increased to 4.2 in 2011 and then fell to 3.2 in 2014
ending at a similar ratio compared to 2003
Similarly, the difference in misdemeanor arrest rates for 18-20 year-olds compared to
those 35 and older started (3.7) and ended (3.8) at similar levels. In 2011, the
misdemeanor arrest rate was 4.6 times higher for 18-20 year-olds compared to those 35
and older.
Comparing 21-24 year-olds to those 35 and older, the difference in misdemeanor arrest
rates was 3.1 in 2003, 3.6 in 2011, and 3.4 in 2014 ending at a slightly higher ratio
compared to 2003. When comparing 25-34 year-olds to those 35 and older, the
differences were even smaller at 1.9 in 2003, 2.2 in 2011, and 2.2 in 2014 ending at a
slightly higher ratio compared to 2003.

46

Figure 16:
C-summons Issuance Rates by Age Group in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Office of Court Administration, and United States Census Bureau.

Figure 16 illustrates the issuance rate of C-summonses for our five age groups in New
York City from 2003 through 2014. These trends demonstrated more fluctuations than
both felony and misdemeanor arrest rates. The issuance rate was highest for 18-20
year-olds at the beginning of the study period at 15.3 percent. However, unlike the
patterns in arrest rates, it ended as the second highest at 10.4 percent. The 21-24 yearolds started with the second highest issuance rate at 14.4 percent and ended with the
highest issuance rate at 11.1 percent. The 16-17 year-olds started (12.3 percent) and
ended (7.6 percent) with the third highest issuance rate but surpassed 21-24 year-olds in
2006 with an issuance rate of 18.9 percent compared to 16.7 percent for the 21-24 yearolds. As with previous trends, 25-24 year-olds had the second lowest issuance rate
starting at 10.0 percent in 2003 and converging with 16-17 year-olds at 7.3 percent.

47

Lastly, issuance rates for those 35 and older remained the lowest and fell from 6.6
percent in 2003 to 3.5 percent in 2014. As with felony arrest and misdemeanor arrests
rates, the four younger age groups had higher issuance rates than that of all individuals
over age 16.
Here we describe ratios using the 35 and older issuance rate as the base. All four age
groups (16-17, 18-20, 21-24, and 25-34) had higher issuance rates than those 35 and
older. The difference in C-summons issuance rates for 16-17 year-olds compared to
those 35 and older increased from 1.9 times higher in 2003 to 2.9 times higher in 2011,
and then dropped to 2.2 times higher in 2014. For 18-20 year-olds, the issuance rate in
2003 was 2.3 times higher than for those 35 and older, which rose to 3.5 times higher in
2011, before falling to 2.9 times higher in 2014. The gap between both 16-17 and 18-20
year-olds and those 35 and older narrowed over the course of the last four years. While
the gaps were narrowing, the ratios were still larger in 2014 compared to 2003.
In 2003, 21-24 year-olds had an issuance rate 2.2 times higher than those 35 and older.
This difference increased to 3.1 and remained at 3.1 in 2014. The difference in issuance
rates for 25-34 year-olds and those 35 and older increased slightly throughout the study
period from 1.5 to 2.1. Again, the ratios for both age groups were larger in 2014
compared to 2003.

48

Figure 17:
Stop Rates by Age Group in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: New York City Police Department, and United States Census Bureau.

Figure 17 above shows the stop rates for each age group in New York City from 2003 to
2014. This enforcement activity had the most dramatic fluctuations. The two age
groups with the highest reported stop rates are 16-17 year-olds and 18-20 year-olds,
sharing a nearly identical trend throughout the study period, with the exception of years
2007 through 2010, in which 18-20 year-olds were notably higher. Of the two, 18-20
year-olds experienced the highest stop rate, starting with 9.4 percent in 2003, peaking
at 36.0 percent in 2011, and then sharply declining to a rate of 2.5 percent in 2014. The
16-17 year-olds started and ended with the second highest stop rates. The stop rates for
this group started at 7.9 percent in 2003, also peaked in 2011 at 35.3 percent, and then
declined to 2.0 percent in 2014. The stop rate for 21-24 year-olds was consistently the
third highest starting at 5.9 percent, rising to a peak of 23.9 percent in 2011, and then

49

falling to 1.7 percent in 2014. The stop rate for 25-34 year-olds remained the second
lowest starting at 2.5 percent and ending at 0.8 percent. The rate of stops for
individuals ages 35 and older remained the lowest and was comparatively stable with
the end rate being lower than the start rate at 0.3 and 0.9 percent respectively. As with
the other enforcement actions, the younger age groups had higher stop rates relative to
the stop rate for all individuals 16 and older.
Again, here we describe ratios using the 35 and older stop rate as the base. Reported
stops had the largest variation in terms of age group differences. In 2003, the stop rate
for 16-17 year-olds was 9.3 times higher than the stop rate for those 35 and older. This
decreased to 9.0 in 2011 and further declined to 7.9 in 2014.
For 18-20 year-olds, we see a slightly different pattern. The difference in rates was 11.o
in 2003, declined to 9.2 in 2011, and then increased to 9.8 in 2014 but still ended below
the 11.0 to 1 ratio in 2003.
The difference in rates for 21-24 year-olds compared to those 35 and older dropped from
6.9 in 2003, to 6.1 in 2011, and then increased to 6.8 in 2014, ending at a similar
difference compared to 2003.
The difference in stop rates was consistent for the study period for 25-34 year-olds
compared to those 35 and older: the difference started at 3.0 in 2003, stayed at 3.0 in
2011, and then increased slightly to 3.2 in 2014.

50

ENFORCEMENT RATES: RACE/ETHNICITY
The figures presented below illustrate the trends in New York City by race/ethnicity
from 2003 to 2014. All rates shown below do not include data on C-summonses because
race/ethnicity data were not reliably available for the study period. Notably, the black
dotted line or the New York City enforcement rate in subsequent graphs (Figure 18-21)
includes enforcement actions of felony arrests, misdemeanor arrests, and stops for all
individuals over age 16.
Figure 18:
Enforcement Rates by Race/Ethnicity in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, and United States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

51

Figure 18 shows trends in the combined enforcement rate of felony arrests,
misdemeanor arrests, and stops for three racial/ethnic groups and the overall New York
City enforcement rate. We note that these rates, in contrast to those in the previous
section, do not include C-summonses. As demonstrated in Figure 18, the enforcement
rates for Blacks and Hispanics were consistently higher than the overall New York City
enforcement rate. Alternatively, the enforcement rate for Whites was consistently below
the overall New York City enforcement rate.
The Black enforcement rate began the study period at 13.6 percent in 2003. This rate
more than doubled to 25.8 percent in 2006, plateaued and rose even higher to peak at
29.5 percent in 2011, then fell sharply to 10.7 percent in 2014, representing a 63.7
percent decrease. In terms of raw numbers, there were 217,144 enforcement actions
involving Blacks in 2003, which peaked to 505,389 in 2011, and then fell to a low of
186,234 in 2014. This group consistently had the highest enforcement rate among the
three racial/ethnic groups.
The enforcement rate for Hispanics followed a similar trend, but was consistently lower
than the enforcement rate for Blacks and consistently higher than that for Whites. The
Hispanic enforcement rate was 8.8 percent in 2003, climbed to 15.0 percent in 2006,
and peaked at 18.5 percent in 2011 before declining to a low of 7.0 percent in 2014. In
terms of raw numbers, there were 144,033 enforcement actions involving Hispanics in
2003, which peaked at 337,000 in 2011, and fell to a low of 129,797 in 2014.
Lastly, the White enforcement rate was 2.4 percent in 2003, increased to a peak of 4.3
percent in 2010, and then fell to 1.6 percent in 2014. In terms of raw numbers, there
were 56,015 enforcement activities involving Whites in 2003, peaking at 106,180 in
2011, and then falling to a low of 49,904 in 2014.
Here we describe ratios using the White enforcement rate as the base. We use three
time points to discuss the ratios: the beginning of the study period, the 2011 peak in
combined enforcement rate (for consistency, rather than the specific enforcement
activity being discussed), and the end of the study period. When comparing
enforcement rates for Blacks to Whites, we found that the difference in enforcement rate
was 5.7 times higher for Blacks compared to Whites in 2003. This difference increased
to 8.7 in 2011 and then decreased to 6.8 in 2014. The analysis for Hispanics and Whites
shows similar trends. The enforcement rate for Hispanics was 3.7 times higher than for
Whites in 2003, which increased to 5.5 in 2011 and decreased to 4.5 in 2014. In both
cases (Blacks compared to Whites and Hispanics compared to Whites), the ratios or the
gap in enforcement rates was larger in 2014 compared to 2003, but was smaller
compared to 2011.

52

Figure 19:
Enforcement Rates for Blacks in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, and United States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

Figure 19 shows the combined enforcement rate for Blacks along with trend lines for
Black felony and misdemeanor arrest rates, and stops. The yellow line here represents
the same enforcement line for Blacks as in the previous figure. The dotted black line is
the combined enforcement rates using felony arrests, misdemeanor arrests, and stops
for all individuals over the age of 16.
The felony arrest rate rose slightly from 2.7 percent in 2003 to 3.2 percent in 2007, then
declined modestly and plateaued to 2.6 percent in 2013 and remained at that rate into
2014. There were 43,440 Black felony arrests in 2003. Felony arrests of Blacks peaked
at 51,265 in 2007 and then dipped to 45,478 in 2014.

53

The misdemeanor arrest rate for Blacks started higher than the felony arrest rate and
stop rate at 6.7 percent in 2003. It peaked at 8.7 percent in 2010 and then fell to 6.9
percent in 2014. In terms of raw numbers, misdemeanor arrests for Blacks were
103,696 in 2003, peaked at 138,355 in 2010, then dipped to 117,977 in 2014.
The stop rate had the most dramatic changes. The stop rate more than tripled from 4.4
percent in 2003 to a peak of 19.1 percent in 2011 before falling precipitously to 1.3
percent in 2014; a 93.2 percent decrease. In terms of raw numbers, there were 70,008
reported stops of Blacks in 2003, a peak of 327,640 in 2011, and then dropped to a low
of 22,779 in 2014.
Figure 20:
Enforcement Rates for Hispanics in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, and United States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

54

Figure 20 illustrates the combined enforcement rate for Hispanics along with rates for
felony and misdemeanor arrests, and stops. The dotted black line is the combined
enforcement rates using felony arrests, misdemeanor arrests, and stops for all
individuals over the age of 16
In 2003 the felony arrest rate for Hispanics was at 1.9 percent, peaked in 2007 at 2.0
percent and declined to 1.5 percent in 2014; ending lower than where it started for our
study period. The number of felony arrests for Hispanics was 31,036 in 2003, grew to a
peak of 34,647 in 2007, and then dipped to 28,397 in 2014.
Misdemeanor arrest rates started at 4.5 percent in 2003, increased to 5.6 percent in
2010, and then declined to 4.8 percent in 2014. There were 72,409 misdemeanor
arrests of Hispanics in 2003, rising to a peak of 96,558 in 2010, and then declined to
89,401 in 2014.
In 2003, the stop rate started at 2.5 percent (actually below misdemeanor rates),
increased to 11.7 percent in 2011, and then dropped to 0.6 percent in 2014, ending below
both misdemeanor and felony arrest rates. In terms of raw numbers, there were 40,588
stops in 2003 for Hispanics. This peaked at 213,417 in 2011, and then dropped
substantially to 11,999 in 2014.

55

Figure 21:
Enforcement Rates for Whites in New York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, and United States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

Figure 21 illustrates the combined enforcement rate of arrests and stops for Whites
along with rates for felony and misdemeanor arrests , and stops. The dotted black line is
the combined enforcement rates using felony arrests, misdemeanor arrests, and stops
for all individuals over the age of 16.
Felony arrest rates for Whites remained low and stable throughout the study period,
fluctuating between 0.4 percent in 2003 to 0.3 percent in 2014. The number of felony
arrests for Whites was 9,736 in 2003. This peaked at 11,340 in 2009 and then declined
to 10,677 in 2014.

56

The misdemeanor arrest rate for Whites increased only slightly from 1.3 percent in 2003
to a peak of 1.5 percent in 2010 before declining to 1.1 percent in 2014. There were
30,282 misdemeanor arrests of Whites in 2003. This peaked at 36,052 in 2011 and then
dropped slightly to 33,861 in 2014.
The stop rate rose from 0.7 percent in 2003 to a high of 2.4 percent in 2008, plateaued
near this rate for several years, and then declined to a rate of 0.2 percent in 2014. This
represents a 91.7 percent decrease from 2008 to 2014. Notably, the peak rate for stops
of Whites occurred earlier during the study period in 2008 compared to the peak for
Blacks and Hispanics, which was in 2011. In terms of raw numbers, the number of stops
of Whites was 15,997 in 2003, 55,210 in 2008, and 5,366 in 2014.

57

MALE ENFORCEMENT RATES: AGE AND RACE/ETHNICITY
The figures presented below illustrate trends in New York City for males by age and
race/ethnicity from 2003 to 2014. Again, we only include felony arrests, misdemeanor
arrests, and stops. We do not present the rates for females in the interest of space and
because they experienced the least amount of variation during the study period (see
Figure 7). Notably, the black dotted line or the New York City enforcement rate in
subsequent graphs (Figure 22-26) includes enforcement actions of felony arrests,
misdemeanor arrests, and stops for all individuals over age 16.
Figure 22:
Enforcement Rates for Males Ages 16-17 by Race/Ethnicity in New York City
from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, and United States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

58

Figure 22 shows the enforcement rates by race/ethnicity for 16-17 year-old males. As
before, the enforcement rate for Blacks was consistently the highest compared to
Hispanics and Whites. The Black enforcement rate began at 48.4 percent and then rose
to its peak at 136.4 percent in 2011; this represents a 64.5 percent increase over nine
years. This rate sharply declined over the next three years to 32.0 percent in 2014,
lower than where it started. From the 2011 peak, this is a 76.5 percent decrease. In
terms of raw numbers, there were 16,257 enforcement actions for Black males aged 1617 in 2003. This increased to 46,812 in 2011 and then dropped to 10,075 in 2014.
The combined enforcement rate for 16-17 year-old Hispanic males was the secondhighest, starting at 28.1 percent in 2003, rising and peaking to 76.7 percent in 2011, and
then declining to 18.7 percent in 2014. From the peak, this is a 75.6 percent reduction
over three years. In terms of raw numbers, there were 10,279 enforcement actions
involving Hispanic males aged 16-17 in 2003. This increased to 27,864 in 2011 and
ended at 6,167 in 2014.
White males in this age group had the lowest enforcement rate in New York City. The
enforcement rate for this group doubled from 14.3 percent in 2003 to 28.8 percent in
2008 and then declined to 3.6 percent in 2014. This is an 87.5 percent reduction from
this group’s 2008 peak. In terms of raw numbers, there were 3,525 enforcement actions
for White males, aged 16-17 in 2003, peaked at 6,770 in 2008, and then dipped to 1,281
in 2014.
For all three racial/ethnic groups, the enforcement rates for 16-17 year-olds were
consistently higher than the enforcement rates for all individuals over age 16 until 2011.
From 2011 to 2014, the enforcement rate for 16-17 year-old White males had a similar
rate to that of all individuals over age 16.
Here we describe ratios using the enforcement rate for White males as the base. We use
three time points to discuss the ratios: the beginning of the study period, the 2011 peak
in combined enforcement rate (for consistency, rather than the specific enforcement
activity being discussed), and the end of the study period. When comparing rate
differences as a ratio for Black to White males (ages 16-17), we found that the
enforcement rate for Blacks was 3.4 times higher than for Whites in 2003. This
difference increased to 8.4 in 2011 and then increased further to 8.9 in 2014.
The analysis comparing 16-17 year-old Hispanic and White males revealed similar
trends. The Hispanic enforcement rate for this age group was 2.0 times higher than for
Whites in 2003, increased to 4.7 in 2011, and increased even more to 5.2 in 2014.
Hence, the gap in enforcement rates continued to increase between minority men and
White men even while all three groups were experiencing dramatic decreases from 2011
to 2014.

59

Figure 23:
Enforcement Rates for Males Ages 18-20 by Race/Ethnicity in New York
City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, and United States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

Figure 23 shows the enforcement rates for 18-20 year-olds males by race/ethnicity.
Similar to their 16-17 year-old counterparts, the Black 18-20 year-old males had the
highest enforcement rate compared to Hispanics and Whites. The Black 18-20 year-old
male enforcement rate began the study period at 63.7 percent in 2003, rising to 156.9
percent in 2011, and then rapidly declining to 38.1 percent in 2014. From the peak, this
is a 75.8 percent reduction over three years. In terms of raw numbers, there were
30,434 enforcement actions involving Black males aged 18-20 in 2003. This peaked at
76,913 in 2011 and then dipped to 18,654 in 2014.

60

Rates for Hispanic 18-20 year-old males fell between those for Blacks and Whites and
followed a similar trend to their Black counterparts. The enforcement rate started at
35.7 in 2003, peaked in 2011 at a rate of 85.9 percent before sharply declining to 22.6
percent in 2014. The percent reduction from the 2011 peak was similar to that of Blacks
at 73.7 percent. In terms of raw numbers, there were 21,042 enforcement actions
involving Hispanic males in this age group in 2003, which rose to 51,789 in 2011, and
then dropped to a twelve year low of 13,533 in 2014.
Of the three racial/ethnic groups, enforcement activity was lowest for White males. In
2003, the rate was 15.4 percent with a peak of 34.2 percent in 2008, then declining to
6.2 percent in 2014. This represents an 81.8 percent reduction from its 2008 peak. In
terms of raw numbers, there were 6,309 enforcement actions involving White males in
2003. This peaked at 13,874 in 2008, then dipped to 3,473 in 2014.
The enforcement rates for 18-20 year-olds was consistently higher than the enforcement
rates for all individuals over age 16 until 2014. In 2014, the enforcement rate for 18-20
year-old White males was similar to the enforcement rates of all individuals over age 16.
We again calculated ratios between rates using Whites as the baseline. In 2003, the
enforcement rate for 18-20 year-old Black males was 4.2 times higher than for Whites.
This increased to 7.1 in 2011 and then decreased slightly to 6.1 in 2014. The 18-20 yearold Hispanic male enforcement rate was 2.3 higher than that of White males in 2003.
This increased to 3.9 in 2011 and then decreased to 3.6 in 2014.
Although the enforcement rate gap narrowed between minority men and White men,
the ratios in 2014 were still higher compared to those in 2003.

61

Figure 24:
Enforcement Rates for Males Ages 21-24 by Race/Ethnicity in New York City
from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, and United States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

Figure 24 illustrates the rate of enforcement actions for 21-24 year-old males by
race/ethnicity. Similar to their younger counterparts, the enforcement rate was highest
for Blacks compared to Hispanics and Whites. The enforcement rate for Black males
aged 21-24 years was 56.1 percent in 2003, rose to a peak of 121.8 percent in 2010, and
subsequently declined over the next four years to a low of 37.0 percent in 2014. This
was a 69.6 percent reduction from the 2010 peak. In terms of raw numbers, there were
31,585 enforcement actions in 2003, 80,066 in 2011, and 25,208 in 2014 for 21-24 yearold Black males. Notably, despite a higher number of enforcement actions for 2011, the
rate for Black males in this age group actually peaked a year earlier in 2010.

62

The enforcement rate for Hispanic males in this age group followed a similar trend to
their Black counterparts. The 21-24 year-old Hispanic male enforcement rate started at
30.4 percent in 2003, peaked at 63.9 percent in 2011 and then declined to 21.7 percent
to 2014. This is a 61.2 percent reduction from the 2011 peak. The numbers for Hispanic
males in this age group were 24,003 actions in 2003, grew to a peak of 57,380 in 2011,
then fell to a low of 19,135 in 2014.
The enforcement rate for 21-24 year-old White males also increased for this age group
from 9.9 percent to 2003 to 18.9 percent in 2010 and then decreased to 6.0 percent in
2014. This is a 68.3 percent reduction from the 2010 peak. In terms of raw numbers,
there were 7,072 enforcement actions for White males in this age group in 2003, which
peaked at 16,036 in 2011, and then dipped to 6,182 in 2014.
The enforcement rates for Black and Hispanic 21-24 year-old males were both
consistently higher than the enforcement rates for all individuals over age 16. For White
males 21-24, the enforcement rate was similar to that of all individuals over age 16.
With regard to differences in rates, the enforcement rate for 21-24 year-old Black males
was 5.7 times higher than for Whites in 2003. This increased to 7.8 in 2011 and then
reduced to 6.2 in 2014. Similarly, in 2003, the enforcement rate for 21-24 year-old
Hispanic males was 3.1 times higher than for White males. This increased to 4.3 in 2011
and declined to 3.6 in 2014.
Again, we see that despite a decreasing gap in enforcement rates between minority men
and White men, the ratios in 2014 were still higher compared to those in 2003.

63

Figure 25:
Enforcement Rates for Males Ages 25-34 by Race/Ethnicity in New York
City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, and United States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

Figure 25 illustrates the enforcement rates for 25-34 year-old males by race/ethnicity.
As before, the enforcement rate was highest for Black males, rising from 33.7 percent in
2003, peaking at 84.1 percent in 2010, and then declining to 28.5 percent in 2014. In
terms of raw numbers, there were 45,968 enforcement actions for Black males in this
age group in 2003, peaked at 113,384 in 2011, and then dropped to 43,589 in 2014.
The rate for Hispanics in this age group was again second highest among the three
racial/ethnic groups. The enforcement rate started at 18.2 percent in 2003, peaked at
42.2 percent in 2011, and then fell to 15.9 percent in 2014, lower than the 2003 rate.

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The raw number of enforcement actions for Hispanic males aged 25-34 was 35,053 in
2003, 85,677 in 2011, and 33,014 in 2014.
The enforcement rate for White males aged 25-34 years remained relatively stable from
2003 to 2014. In 2003, the enforcement rate was 5.0 percent; this increased modestly
to 9.1 percent in 2010 and then decreased to 3.6 percent in 2014. In terms of raw
numbers, there were 12,046 enforcement actions for White males in this age group in
2003, peaked at 24,549 in 2011, and then declined to 12,584 in 2014.
The enforcement rates for Black and Hispanic males, 25-34 year-olds were both
consistently higher than the enforcement rates for all individuals over age 16. For White
males 25-34, the enforcement rate was consistently lower compared to the rate of
enforcement for all individuals over age 16.
Here we describe ratios using the enforcement rate for White males as the base. In
2003, the enforcement rate for 25-34 year-old Black males was 6.8 times higher than for
Whites. This difference increased to 10.9 percent in 2011 and then decreased to 8.0 in
2014. Similarly, the enforcement rate for 25-34 year-old Hispanic males was 3.7 times
higher compared to Whites. The difference increased to 5.8 in 2011 and then decreased
to 4.5 in 2014.
Again, we see that despite a decreasing gap in enforcement rates between minority men
and White men aged 25-34, the ratios in 2014 were still higher compared to those in
2003.

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Figure 26:
Enforcement Rates for Males Ages 35 and Older by Race/Ethnicity in New
York City from 2003-2014

Data Sources: Division of Criminal Justice Services for Felony Arrests, New York City Police Department
for Misdemeanor Arrests and Stops, and United States Census Bureau for Population Counts.

Figure 26 shows the enforcement rates for males 35 years and older by race/ethnicity.
The trends, although lower than the other age groups, remain consistent with Black
males having the highest enforcement rate, followed by Hispanic males, and lastly,
White males. In 2003, Black males 35 and older had an enforcement rate of 15.5
percent, which rose to 29.4 percent in 2011, and then declined to 12.4 percent in 2014.
The number of enforcement actions for Black males 35 and older was 63,526 in 2003,
peaked at 133,187 in 2011, and then dropped to 57,846 in 2014.
Hispanic males 35 and older started the study period with an 8.8 percent enforcement
rate, which increased to 16.8 percent in 2011, and then declined to 7.6 percent in 2014.
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The number of enforcement actions for Hispanic males 35 and older was 35,889 in
2003, peaked at 80,356 in 2011, and then dipped to 38,293 in 2014.
The enforcement rate for White males 35 and older was 2.5 percent in 2003, increased
to 4.1 percent in 2008, and declined modestly to 1.7 percent in 2014. The number of
enforcement actions for White males 35 and older was 18,440 in 2003, peaked at 30,817
in 2011, and then declined to 17,189 in 2014.
The enforcement rates for Black males, 35 years and older was consistently higher than
the enforcement rates for all individuals over age 16. Hispanic males 35 and older had a
slightly higher, but similar enforcement rate compared to that for all individuals over
age 16. For White males 35 years and older, the enforcement rate was consistently lower
compared to the rate of enforcement for all individuals over age 16.
Here we describe ratios using the enforcement rate for White males as the base. With
regard to the differences in rates among males 35 and older, Blacks had an enforcement
rate that was 6.3 times higher than Whites in 2003. This difference increased to 9.2 in
2011 and then declined to 7.2 in 2014. Similarly, Hispanic males in this age group had
an enforcement rate 3.6 times higher than Whites in 2003, which increased to 5.2 in
2011, and then declined to 4.4 percent in 2014.
Again, we see that despite a decreasing gap in enforcement rates between minority men
and White men 35 and older, the ratios in 2014 were still higher compared to those in
2003.

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CONCLUSION
This report examined four types of enforcement actions–felony arrests, misdemeanor
arrests, criminal summonses, and stops–involving the people of New York City and the
police. The objective of this report was to gain a more comprehensive understanding of
the combined volume of these enforcement activities and to gauge their trends over the
course of twelve years.
In concluding, we highlight our four take-home messages from this report:
1. Overall, enforcement activity increased considerably until 2011 and decreased
substantially over the following three years. These trends were driven primarily
by the substantial increase and decrease in reported stops, and secondarily by Csummonses and misdemeanors.
2. Trends observed for enforcement actions differed among the demographic
groups. Over the course of the study period, men, young people, and
racial/ethnic minorities experienced the greatest amount of fluctuation in
enforcement rates. Alternatively, enforcement rates for women, older age
groups, and Whites remained relatively constant.
3. There were differences in enforcement activity between the demographic groups.
For instance, the gender gap in enforcement rates between men and women
decreased while gaps between the youngest and oldest age groups; and
racial/ethnic groups were more varied.
4. From 2011 to 2014, there have been approximately 800,000 fewer enforcement
actions including felony arrests, misdemeanor arrests, C-summonses, moving
violation summonses, and stops.
The analyses presented in this report provide a wealth of information about trends in
law enforcement observed in New York City. However, as with any study or report there
are certain limitations that merit discussion. First, we did not compare New York City
enforcement activities to those of any other urban areas. Therefore, conclusions drawn
from this report should only be used to inform discussions about policing actions in
New York City, and we do not endorse the generalization of these trends in policing to
other locations. Secondly, we were not able to analyze any data at the individual level.
As a result, we were unable to analyze the number of people with multiple contacts with
law enforcement versus people who seldom come into contact with the police. It is
possible that a relatively small number of people could be accounting for a substantial
proportion of law enforcement activities presented in this report. Unfortunately, we had
no way of accounting for this in the available data. Third, we are unable to document
all enforcement activity including moving violation summonses, parking violations, TAB
summonses, and stops in which a UF-250 form was not completed. Finally, we were
unable to analyze summons data by race because this information was not gathered
reliably on the forms used during the time period of the study. Despite these

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limitations, we believe this report contributes much needed insight into our
comprehensive understanding of trends in law enforcement in New York City.
This is the third report released from the Misdemeanor Justice Project at John Jay
College of Criminal Justice. We are now working on our next set of reports, including
analyses of the pretrial detention rates for individuals charged with misdemeanors in
New York City, the trends in the use of stationhouse release in New York City, the
differences between officer-initiated and citizen-initiated misdemeanor arrests, and the
relationship between the place of residence and place of arrest for people arrested for
misdemeanors in New York City. We hope that this report, alongside our previous work
and our future publications, will provide an empirical framework to inform policy
makers regarding the enforcement of the law, particularly for low level offenses. As the
national discussion continues to focus attention on the proper exercise of these powers,
and the relationship between actions of the police and other societal responses to low
level offending, we look forward to engaging with other researchers and policy makers
who are looking carefully at the best ways for our society to respond to these violations
of the law.

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