9 in 10 New Yorkers stopped and frisked by NYPD were 'innocent'

Approximately 90 percent of New Yorkers who were stopped and frisked between 2010 and 2012 were 'totally innocent,' New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) has said.

New York Police Department did not engage in racial profiling while conducting its controversial stop-and-frisk programme, police commissioner Ray Kelly has said.

But federal judge Shira Sheindlin ruled that stop and frisk were unconstitutional as they 'encouraged the targeting of young black and Hispanic men based on their prevalence in local crime complaints'.

Analyzing data released by the NYPD revealed that 'black and Latino communities continued to be the overwhelming target of these tactics,' ABC News reports.

According to the report, in 2012, New Yorkers were stopped by police 532,911 times.

The NYCLU said that in 55 percent of the cases, the suspect was black and in 10 percent of the cases, the suspect was white. It added that in 89 percent of the cases, 'the suspect was innocent'.

It added that in 2011, 53 percent of New Yorkers who were stopped and frisked by police were black, and nine percent were white.