NEW YORK (PIX11) -- A new independent survey reraises questions about the NYPD Neighborhood Safety Teams. The teams were deployed last year to target violent crime in some of New York City’s most dangerous neighborhoods. 

At the time, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the teams would differ from the previously disbanded Anti Crime Units.

"We actually had to take a look at the mistakes of the past and what we need to change. The officers were actually trained in the constitution and community interaction,” Sewell said.

The report from an independent monitor appointed to oversee the NYPD found 97% of the stops made by Neighborhood Safety Teams were of Black and Hispanic New Yorkers.

“This is exactly what we saw with the stop and frisk,” Daniel Labmright of the New York Civil Liberties Union said in an interview with PIX11’s Ayana Harry.

“Over 90% of the people who are victims of gun violence and homicide are Black and Brown, over 90% of the people who are carrying the illegal guns are Black and Brown," Mayor Eric Adams noted.

The report also found 24% of the stops made by Neighborhood Safety Teams were unconstitutional.

“There has to be a reason why they would stop and frisk someone,” explained Legal Aid Society Staff Attorney Jennvine Wong. “You can’t just be someone was walking down the street.”

PIX11 News reached out to NYPD for a comment, and they said:

“NSTs engage with the public lawfully and constitutionally, and since the implementation of the program, they have been instrumental in the reduction of shootings and homicides that the City is experiencing,” an NYPD Spokesperson said.