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As police departments across the nation reevaluate their encounters with citizens on the streets in a post-Ferguson era, the country鈥檚 largest police force will begin giving 鈥渞eceipts鈥� to those stopped, questioned, or frisked but then allowed to go on about their day.

On Sept. 21, beat cops with the New York Police Department will start giving any person they stop, but do not end up arresting, an information card that will explain why he or she was stopped in the first place. The card 鈥� now being dubbed a 鈥渞eceipt鈥� 鈥� will include the officer鈥檚 name and badge number, as well as information on how to make a complaint, if necessary.

Just a few years ago, New York鈥檚 famous mean streets included one of the most aggressive police departments in the nation. Police flooded high-crime neighborhoods, stopping and frisking hundreds of thousands of people听each year 鈥� a proactive policing tactic meant to nip crime before it started.

But nearly 9 of 10 of those stopped were never arrested or charged with a crime, and the vast majority of those stopped 鈥� more than 85 percent 鈥� were black and Latino men. In 2013, a federal judge ruled that the reasons given for many of these stops 鈥� such as walking in a 鈥渉igh crime neighborhood鈥� or somehow exhibiting a 鈥渇urtive movement鈥� 鈥� hardly met the constitutional 鈥渞easonable suspicion鈥� standard for searches.

The new receipt program represents a dramatic turnabout for the department. Most experts believe its is the first of its kind, and its timing is significant. With the Obama administration and policing theorists promoting 鈥渃ommunity policing鈥� 鈥� getting beat cops to become more attuned with local neighborhoods 鈥� it could resonate beyond New York, if successful.

鈥淭his is all over the literature now 鈥� police legitimacy, fairness in policing,鈥� says Edward Connors, president of the Institute for Law and Justice in Williamsburg, Va.

This new police procedure could help change the tone when citizens interact with police on the streets, he adds.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no solid science behind it yet, but from the psychology field, it鈥檚 been a theory that鈥檚 been tested and has shown a lot of promise: that if you treat people fairly and give them an explanation 鈥� maybe they鈥檙e not happy, like in the case of someone who gets a traffic ticket 鈥� but they understand and they might feel that some justice has been done.鈥�

The federal case against the NYPD two years ago in many ways set the stage for the nationwide unrest and Black Lives Matter protest movement, which were sparked by the perception of aggressive policing in minority communities. After the deaths of black men such as Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson in 2014, many activists and experts have begun to scrutinize even the most basic police procedures.

鈥淥fficers everywhere are expected to tell people they stop the purpose for the stop,鈥� says Darrel Stephens, executive director of Major Cities Chiefs, a professional association of police executives in Salt Lake City. And across the nation, he notes, 鈥渄epartments are also working harder to ensure officers provide a clear statement of their reasonable suspicion to make the stop on the forms they use to document the encounter.鈥�

Under the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, the number of stop-and-frisks in New York City has fallen dramatically, to about 50,000 per year, down from a high of . But again, nearly 8 out 10 are still not arrested or charged with a crime.

The new receipt program is being instituted by the department on the recommendation of the federal judge and the monitor appointed as a part of the federal case. For people stopped but not arrested, the receipt will explain听" It describes听the penal law giving the officer the authority to make a stop based on 鈥渞easonable suspicion,鈥� and includes checkoff boxes that explain what the officer鈥檚 initial suspicion may have been. These include 鈥渁cting as a lookout,鈥� 鈥渆ngaging in a drug transaction,鈥� or 鈥渕atches a specific suspect鈥檚 description,鈥� among others.

The receipt would also include the officer鈥檚 name, rank and shield number, as well as the numbers for the department鈥檚 internal affairs bureau and the city鈥檚 Citizens Complaint Review Board.

鈥淎 tense moment is when a civilian says to a police officer, 鈥榃hat is your badge number,' 鈥� Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a former police officer, , noting that these stop receipts could eliminate that tension.

鈥淚f you are an active cop in a high crime area and you're doing your job and some bad guy wants to report you for doing your job, the police department has never held that against you,鈥� he said.

After the federal stop-and-frisk听case, the de Blasio administration has also instituted a number of reforms, including pilot programs with body cameras, new community policing programs giving officers more time to walk their beats instead of answering 911 calls, and new training that emphasizes deescalating conflicts and clearer rules for the use of force.

But many of the rank and file of the NYPD still remain bitter at the 2013 court case, and the new receipt policy is being criticized by many police union leaders.

鈥淭hey are just one more item on the ever-growing list of anti-public-safety measures that will put an end to proactive policing in this city and ultimately accelerate the increase in crime and disorder that we are already seeing in our public spaces,鈥� said Patrick Lynch, head of the NYPD鈥檚 patrolman鈥檚 union, .

鈥淚t is time for our policymakers to stop heaping new burdens on police officers and to figure out how unwind the damaging measures that are already in place before the erosion in public safety does serious damage to NYC's economic health,鈥� he said.

Some experts counter that efforts like this, making police explain street encounters, could help reduce the tensions now engulfing many jurisdictions throughout the nation.

Mr. Connors at the Institute for Law and Justice suggests that the department take a sample of those stopped to measure how well it may be easing tensions on the streets. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a great possibility.鈥�