Cops Told To Target Black Commuters In Brooklyn Subways: Report

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — An NYPD commander urged cops to go after black and brown New Yorkers for minor subway offenses and ease back on Asian people, according to multiple reports.

“You are stopping too many Russian and Chinese,” commander Constantin Tsachas told officer Daniel Perez, according to the New York Times.

Former officer Christopher LaForce reportedly said he retired in 2015 because, “I got tired of hunting Black and Hispanic people because of arrest quotas."

The statements appear in a discrimination lawsuit that alleges Tsachas pressured cops to make racially motivated arrestes in south Brooklyn's Transit District 34 from 2012 to about 2015, according to the report.

Tsachas — who led a 100-officer team who patrolled Sunset Park, parts of Flatbush and Brighton Beach — stands accused just as the city spurred outrage by hiring 500 new cops to crack down on turnstile jumpers and other minor offenses.

Critics say it's already disproportionately affected people of color and point to recent arrests of teenagers and churros vendors as proof.

NYPD data show most people arrested for fare evasion in New York City between 2017 and 2019 were black or Hispanic, the Times reported.

A union representative told the Times Tsachas denied misconduct allegations and the NYPD declined to comment.

Read the full report here.