The New York Police Department is analyzing years of data to determine if the decline in the number of stop, question and frisks is having an impact on crime in the city, Commissioner William Bratton said Wednesday.
The study comes as overall crime continues to decrease, but as the department grapples with an uptick this year in violence, particularly shootings, in certain neighborhoods.
“We have a very comprehensive analysis under way right now,” Mr. Bratton said after an unrelated event at police headquarters. “At this juncture, we really don’t know. Once that study is completed over the next several weeks, we’ll have a better idea of that.”
Mr. Bratton has said in the past that he doesn’t believe there is any correlation between the decreasing number of stops and shooting increases.
A law-enforcement official said the commissioner ordered the study earlier this week during a weekly meeting with NYPD three-star chiefs and top officials to discuss crime numbers.
The NYPD is laying out its annual plan to deal with summer crime. Precincts that have been plagued by gun violence will be flooded with new recruits who graduate on Monday.
The official, who has direct knowledge of the meeting, said Mr. Bratton was concerned about the recent uptick in shootings and went around the room asking for solutions.
Unsatisfied with the answers, he ordered a study that looks at noticeable trends contributing to the uptick and if there is any correlation to the drop in 250 reports—the form officers fill out after conducting a stop.
Some criminologists welcomed comprehensive analysis.
With the decreasing number of stops, “one should expect some increase in crime numbers,” said Richard Rosenthal, a criminology professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, who published a 2014 study that said it was difficult to determine the relationship between stops and crime.
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