New York ( CNN ) -- The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a federal class action lawsuit Wednesday against the city of New York and several members of the New York Police Department , including Police Commissioner Ray Kelly , challenging the department 's `` Operation Clean Halls '' program , the NYCLU announced . `` Operation Clean Halls has placed hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers , mostly black and Latino , under siege in their own homes , '' said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman in a press release Wednesday . `` This aggressive assault on people 's constitutional rights must be stopped . '' The city-sponsored program offers police patrols in residential buildings in an attempt to prevent the use and sale of drugs , according to the official New York City website . `` Landlords can request that the police conduct patrols in the hallways and stairwells of their building to remove nonresidents who are loitering , '' the site states . `` By challenging uninvited individuals , police are providing a level of safety to tenants that residents of doormen buildings take for granted , '' Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said in a press release responding to the lawsuit . Critics dispute the role of the program . The program , which has existed since 1991 , is part of a citywide police policy of `` suspicionless '' stops and arrests that disproportionally affect communities of color , according to the NYCLU . The lawsuit says the NYPD program violates the U.S. and New York State Constitutions , New York common law and the federal Fair Housing Act , according to the court complaint provided by the NYCLU . `` The NYPD uses Clean Halls as a license to stop anybody , at any time , on suspicion of trespassing , '' NYCLU Senior Staff Attorney Alexis Karteron , lead attorney on the case , said in the press release . `` As a result , people who live in Clean Halls buildings are under constant threat of being stopped , frisked , harassed and even arrested by police officers . This type of activity has no place in a free society , and we 're confident the courts will put a stop to it . '' `` There 's a lot that we do n't know about the program . It 's really shrouded in secrecy and that 's one of the problems about it , '' said Jen Carnig , NYCLU director of communications . Enrollment in Operation Clean Halls , is widespread , with almost all private apartments in some areas of the Bronx and nearly 4,000 private buildings in Manhattan enrolled , the court complaint states . `` Landlords invite the police in to at least stop and talk to people who are uninvited into the building , '' Kelly told CNN affiliate NY1 on Wednesday . `` This is the level of safety that people have who live in buildings with doormen . I would suspect that probably the attorneys involved in this case live in buildings with doormen . '' `` I believe the NYPD has a role to play in our community . But right now , they do n't make us feel safe , '' Jacqueline Yates , one of the suit 's plaintiffs , told the NYCLU . `` We feel under attack in our homes . '' The New York Civil Liberties Union is joined by the LatinoJustice PRLDEF and The Bronx Defenders in representing the lawsuit 's 13 plaintiffs . The lawsuit seeks a declaration of unlawful practices and injunction against the defendants , and in addition to several changes in policy , it aims to award damages as compensation to the named plaintiffs .
NYCLU files lawsuit against NYC and NYPD officers over apartment patrol tactics . NYCLU says patrols unfairly target low-income communities and minorities . NYPD official says program provides increased safety for buildings ' residents .