Nine out of 10 people arrested for coronavirus-related incidents in New York City were people of color, data released Tuesday shows.
Out of the 125 “COVID-19 related” arrests made, 83 suspects were black and 30 were Hispanic, according to data released by the NYPD Tuesday.
Nine people who were arrested were white and three were Asian or Pacific Islander, the data shows.
People of color accounted for more than 90 percent of those arrested citywide, according to the data.
The only patrol borough where that trend didn’t occur was on Staten Island where the only arrest connected to the distancing rules was of a white woman in her 40s, according to the state.
The data, though, doesn’t exclusively detail social distancing arrests.
“These are not social distancing arrests,” the NYPD said. “Many were responses to calls for service where there was a clear victim and police took necessary action.”
The NYPD categorized these calls as “COVID-19 related due to the circumstances,” which include statements made by the arrestee or victim.
One of the arrests included was from a bank robbery where a note was handed to a teller that read, “I have COVID.”
The data also includes arrests for assault, possession of a weapon or drugs, as well as other offenses.
The NYPD did not provide a breakdown of charges associated with the COVID-related arrests.
The Legal Aid Society slammed the NYPD’s broad definition of COVID-related arrests — calling it “meaningless.”
“The release of this data is in no way responsive to demands from elected officials and community leaders for the NYPD to be more transparent about how it is policing social distancing requirements,” said Corey Stoughton, the attorney-in-charge of the special litigation unit at The Legal Aid Society.
The disproportionate number of people arrested — as well as ticketed — has led to calls for the NYPD to get out of policing the mayor’s executive order amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The enforcement first became a hot-button early last week when a handful of videos emerged on social media showing violent arrests as the NYPD stepped up its patrols.
The disparities appear in the number of people issued summonses as well, with 80 percent of the 400 tickets written for social distancing or other lockdown measures being given to blacks or Hispanics.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea brushed off any comparison in the enforcement to the contentious stop-and-frisk policy on Monday.
The new data lines up with CBS’s reporting from late last week when it reported on the disparity in 120 arrests connected to social distancing.
The NYPD refused to confirm those numbers on Friday.