Lawyers have completed closing arguments in a federal case challenging the way the NYPD has been conducting the practice of stop and frisk.

The trial that has put the NYPD's stop and frisk tactic under a microscope is wrapping up on Monday with closing arguments.

A Brooklyn professor has made a point of attending the federal stop and frisk trial nearly every day since it began three months ago. He has no personal ties to the case. But he believes the lawsuit challenging the way the city has been conducting its stop and frisk tactic is the most important trial focused on race in decades.

Both the NYPD’s use of stop and frisk and crime in the city are on the decline, recent data shows.

Alphonza Bryant III, 17, had a lot to look forward to. There was his upcoming prom (he already had a white tuxedo picked out) and next month, he was graduating high school. In a class photo, he appears to be anticipating the occasion, wearing a cerulean blue cap and gown.

"You have time when we're probably the most hated people in the city depending on what's going on and then you have times where we're loved,” said a veteran officer of more than 20 years. 

East New York, Brooklyn still holds the top spot in the city when it comes to stops, despite sharp declines. More than 24,000 people were stopped there during the past year.

The NYPD's highest ranking person testifying in the federal class action lawsuit against stop and frisk, Joseph Esposito, said on Tuesday that the department is focused on making "quality" stops where crime happens.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly once again defended stop and frisk on Wednesday, trying to reassure the largely African American audience at the National Action Network’s convention in midtown that the NYPD is invested in bettering community relationships.

State Senator Eric Adams said he witnessed a rare moment of candor by Police Commissioner Ray Kelly in a 2010 meeting that shed light on the NYPD’s stop and frisk tactic.

City lawyers in the class-action suit challenging the constitutionality of the NYPD’s stop and frisk tactic revealed a new memo on Tuesday requiring officers to expand the amount of information included on department logs.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned that the drop in crime over the last decade shouldn't be taken for granted—especially by the candidates vying to replace him: "We don’t even know if it’s a goal, and I believe the people of this city have a right to know that their mayor will keep fighting to reduce crime. The question is whether people running for mayor believe that.”

About 100 protestors rallied and marched to the 67th police precinct in East Flatbush, Brooklyn on Sunday calling for an independent investigation into the shooting of 16-year-old Kimani Gray. He was killed by plainclothes officers on March 9.

Kimani Gray, the 16-year-old who's shooting death by plain clothes police officers sparked a series of protests in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, will be laid to rest this weekend.

The role of the inspector general could be the most significant oversight of the NYPD to date. Or it could be a toothless monitor that adds a layer of bureaucracy.  

The city is facing the most comprehensive legal challenge to the NYPD's stop, question and frisk tactic starting Monday. A federal, class action suit will challenge the practice on the basis it is unconstitutional.

It’s been nearly a week since 16-year-old Kimani Gray was shot by plainclothes officers in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. Days of protest have followed with people in the community expressing anger as the city defended the officers' use of deadly force. His mother, Carol Gray, has been struggling this week to separate the details of her son’s life with how he died.

As the number of people incarcerated in New York continues to decline, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed closing two women's prisons to save money.

“Two kids in the wrong place at the wrong time who both lost their lives. I mean one fatally, and one to the system.”

WNYC reporter Kathleen Horan talks about her reporting project, "In Harm's Way", profiling the lives of every child killed by gun violence in New York City.