New York Mayor Bill de Blasio Thursday announced a settlement in the long legal battle over the police department 's controversial stop-and-frisk policies , which a federal judge ruled violated the rights of minority residents . In addition to dropping its appeal of the ruling , the city will implement reforms aimed at improving strained relations between police and the community . De Blasio , who targeted the policing practice during his mayoral campaign to succeed Michael Bloomberg , called the settlement ending the Floyd vs. City of New York case `` historic '' and said it closes the years-long legal fight that found the overuse of stop-and-frisk unconstitutional . De Blasio said 90 % of the people who were stopped and frisked were innocent of any crimes . `` We 're here today to turn the page on one of the most divisive problems in our city , '' he told reporters . `` We believe in ending the overuse of stop-and-frisk that has unfairly targeted young African-American and Latino men . ... We believe in one city where everyone rises together , respecting every New Yorker 's rights regardless of what neighborhood they live in or the color of their skin . '' In August 2013 , a federal judge ruled that stop-and-frisk violated the Constitution and ordered the city to develop remedies . The ruling stemmed from a class-action lawsuit representing potentially hundreds of thousands of people that never asked for monetary damages . They instead sued to have the policy changed . `` We have been in negotiations with the city since the new administration came into office ... so it was n't a surprise , '' Darius Charney , senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights , told CNN . `` But we still obviously consider today to be a very important step along a long struggle that goes back a decade . '' Charney and others will now enter a new phase of talks with city officials in a collaborative attempt to reform the policy that dictates how and when police officers can stop and question someone on the street . `` We are definitely cautiously optimistic that this can be a collaborative effort and we will work with them , but we also will remain vigilant throughout the process to hold them accountable to their promises , '' he said . The much-criticized method , in which police stopped and searched those they considered suspicious , had been used to deter crime , the police department said . But it has also resulted in a slew of lawsuits by residents complaining of unlawful stops . `` We will not break the law to enforce the law , '' said the new police commissioner , Bill Bratton . `` That 's my solemn promise to every New Yorker , regardless of where they were born , where they live or what they look like . '' Bratton stopped short of calling the previous administration 's stop-and-frisk activity a quota system , but said it was `` quite clear officers were strongly encouraged , were expected to produce activity . '' `` The officers themselves were asking why more , '' he said . `` They were being pushed to do more . I think that 's clearly understood . '' Last year , then-Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the department did not engage in racial profiling . Under the agreement with plaintiffs who sued the city over the practice , a court-appointed monitor will oversee the New York Police Department 's reforms of the policy for three years . The monitor will report to a federal court on the city 's progress . The city will also take part in a process with community members `` to ensure people affected by stop-and-frisk play an active role in shaping reform , '' de Blasio said in a statement . Police department figures showed that nearly nine out of 10 people `` stopped and frisked '' in 2011 were African-American or Hispanic . The data showed that of the 685,724 stops made by police that year , 53 % of those questioned were black , 34 % were Latino , 9 % were white and 3 % were Asian . The citywide population in 2011 was 23.4 % black , 29.4 % Hispanic , 12.9 % Asian and 34.3 % non-Hispanic white , according to the report . One of the subjects of the stops appeared with de Blasio at Thursday 's press conference . The first time Nicholas Peart , who is black , was stopped and frisked by police officers he was celebrating his 18th birthday . It happened three more times in the years since , despite having never committed a crime , he said . It prompted him to become a plaintiff the lawsuit . `` We have made some significant steps , '' said Peart , now 25 . `` This is a small part of a larger battle that we have . ''
90 % of those who were stopped and frisked were innocent , mayor says . He says city should end policy that `` unfairly targeted young '' African-Americans , Latinos . The stop-and-frisk policy has resulted in lawsuits by residents complaining of unlawful stops . New York City will implement reforms to improve relations between police , community .