NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) -- Over 90 percent of jaywalking tickets last year were issued to Black and Latino pedestrians, according to city data.
NYPD officers wrote 467 summonses for violating a section of the state's Vehicle and Traffic Law, Streetsblog NYC reported. Of 426 summonses issued, 92 percent were written to Black or Latino residents.
The NYPD has faced backlash in the past over the disproportionate ticketing of Black and Latino pedestrians. In 2019, about 90 percent of all tickets were issued to black and Latino pedestrians, Streetsblog reported.
Mayor Bill de Blasio commented on the data saying, "We’ve got to figure out with real challenges with busier and busier streets how we use enforcement for everyone the right way, but it has to be fair."
In terms of the city's population, black people comprise 21 percent of New York City's population, while Hispanic residents comprise 29 percent.
Charline Charles is a digital journalist from Brooklyn who has covered local news along with culture and arts in the New York City area since 2019. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.
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