Comptroller Stringer: 311 Data Spotlights the City’s Discriminatory Enforcement of Social Distancing Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

(New York, NY) — Today, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer sent a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio spotlighting concerning evidence of disparate enforcement of social distancing in historically disenfranchised communities of color across the city by the New York City Police Department (NYPD). A new analysis of 311 data conducted by the Comptroller’s office found that the NYPD fielded all of the more than 44,000 complaints submitted to 311 on social distancing and face coverings. Additionally, over 6,000 calls were made to 311 after the Mayor announced on May 15th that enforcement of social distancing would shift from the police to community organizations.

The Comptroller’s analysis found that the NYPD is reported to have taken action, including issuing summonses and making arrests, on a larger share of 311 complaints in lower-income communities of color while being more likely to conclude that no action was needed in whiter, more affluent neighborhoods of the city. Comptroller Stringer called on the City to rethink its approach to social distancing enforcement and ensure that all communities are treated fairly and equally in the effort to protect public health amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The full text of the letter can be found below and here.

Dear Mayor de Blasio:

I write today to request additional information about the City’s plan to enforce social distancing and other COVID-19-related mandates, such as the use of face coverings, in the weeks to come. While I was encouraged by the news on May 15th that the City would work with community partners to facilitate public education and distribute face coverings — a recommendation I was proud to join many other elected leaders and advocates in supporting — I remain deeply concerned that the current approach continues to assign the New York Police Department (NYPD) a leading role in enforcement and of the potential harms that will inevitably be borne disproportionately by New Yorkers of color, absent further changes and clarification. Racial and ethnic disparities in enforcement predated this pandemic, and we have already witnessed far too many incidents that make it abundantly clear the NYPD is not the right agency to enforce COVID-19 public health guidelines.

An analysis by my office of 311 service requests since early March shows that the NYPD has fielded every single one of the more than 44,000 complaints New Yorkers have 2 made regarding violations of social distancing and the use of face coverings, including over 6,000 since your May 15th announcement. In fact, the day after the announcement, May 16th, the NYPD fielded 1,981 COVID-related 311 service requests, the third-highest number of such requests on any one day – raising questions about how exactly the NYPD is prioritizing enforcement in practice. At the same time, as with data the NYPD recently released on coronavirus-related arrests and summonses, 311 service requests give additional evidence of uneven enforcement. My office found that the NYPD is reported to have taken action, including issuing summonses and making arrests, on a larger share of 311 complaints in lower-income communities of color (Map 1) while being more likely to conclude that no action was needed in whiter, more affluent neighborhoods of the city like Chelsea and the Upper East Side (Map 2).

Map 1

Map2

While I appreciate that 311 data do not capture all COVID-19 enforcement actions, this analysis does suggest that enforcement is consuming a significant amount of NYPD capacity and resources – and potentially creating thousands of opportunities for communities of color to be unnecessarily caught up in our criminal legal system. We cannot allow this to happen.

As you know, COVID-19 has laid bare the deep inequities that run through our city. Black and brown New Yorkers are bearing the brunt of this pandemic, representing a vast majority of COVID-19 cases and deaths and most of our frontline workforce. These communities are already more vulnerable to illness due to gaping holes in our social safety net and historic disinvestments in lower-income neighborhoods, rooted in structural racism. We cannot allow the imperative to promote social distancing to become a pretext for further disenfranchisement and criminalization of people of color.

Fortunately, we have other, non-punitive tools at our disposal, as your decision to engage community leaders recognizes. But we must let them take the lead – and resource them.

To that end, I am requesting that you provide my office with answers to the following questions regarding the City’s current policy on enforcement by Friday, May 29, 2020:

1. How are reports of non-essential gatherings communicated to the NYPD, and what guidance, if any, has been provided to uniformed officers to assist in enforcing the policy to “prioritiz[e] dispersing groups of 6+ adults,” including the circumstances under which they are to issue fines?
2. Will the NYPD be issuing guidance or a patrol guide procedure on enforcement of face covering violations, to delineate what constitutes a “serious danger to the public”?
3. Will the NYPD continue to take the lead on enforcement of social distancing beyond non-essential gatherings? Analysis of 311 service requests indicates that these complaints comprise a far larger share of coronavirus-related, non-emergency police matters than face covering violations.
4. How is the City identifying community partners, and will houses of worship and community organizations partnering with the City be compensated for this work?
5. Will community and faith-based groups’ roles be limited to educating and distributing face coverings, or will they be involved in responding to reports of non-essential gatherings or social distancing violations?
6. Who are the 2,260 City employees who have been tasked to serve as “Social Distancing Ambassadors,” and where and how often are they being deployed?
7. Will the City continue to direct New Yorkers to report violations of social distancing or the use of face coverings through 311? If so, will these continue to be fielded by the NYPD? I urge you to consider directing these requests to the City’s health department, and in turn allow public health professionals to partner with designated community leaders to respond in real time, identify trends, and develop culturally responsive public education strategies.
8. Which City agencies, if any, are being tasked with analyzing reports of social distancing and face covering violations in order to shape public education and outreach?

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Questions and responses to the issues raised here can be directed to Matthew Rubin, Deputy Chief of Staff, at mrubin@comptroller.nyc.gov.

Sincerely,

Scott M. Stringer
New York City Comptroller

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