All over Manhattan, the NYPD is sending undercover cops into bodegas and liquor stores to buy beer underage or hawk stolen electronics, and using those stings to extract fines from business owners, then hit them with onerous penalties. Sorry, did I say all over Manhattan? I meant in Inwood, East Harlem, and Washington Heights, neighborhoods with primarily Hispanic residents.

In December, according to a lawsuit, NYPD officers prevented a family from entering their Queens apartment for several days because of allegations that drugs were being sold there. A great bust for the cops, except that the suspected drug dealer had moved out in August.

Over the weekend, several New York City public officials made statements about the need for oversight or reform of a law that allows the NYPD to kick people out of their apartments without charging them of crimes. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s voice was distinctly absent from the chorus.

A joint investigation published today by ProPublica and the New York Daily News shines light on the NYPD’s enforcement of a little-known law that allows the department to kick people out of their apartments without charging them with a crime or even arresting them. The process, known as nuisance abatement, is used almost exclusively against people of color.