Protester Tyquan Scott described a recent experience with the NYPD.

“Me and my friend, we got a rental for my birthday," he said. "They stopped us, they said they smelled weed. We just got the rental. How you smell weed?"

He and some of the people demonstrating against brutality say a new report by the city’s police watchdog group the Civilian Complaint Review Board validates why they are taking to the streets.

"People in uniform of white color, they don’t respect people of color like us at all," said protester Douglas Reyes.

The CCRB looked at 112 complaints against the NYPD involving young people between January 2018 and June 2019. It found young males of color ages 10 to 18 years old were the victims of 65 percent of those complaints, even though they account for less than 5 percent of the city’s population.

The report also found many of their interactions with the police involved officers stopping them for not harmful activities, like high-fiving, carrying backpacks, and jaywalking .

“I’ve got sons. I got grandsons," said John Butler of Churches United to Save and Heal. When asked if it scares him for them, he replied, "It scares me for all of them, not just my own. All the young black men."

Butler has been rallying against abusive police tactics for years. He and other protesters NY1 spoke to say the report shows some NYPD officers need to change how they interact with young people .

The CCRB report recommends the NYPD adopt several changes, including taking into account the age of the victim when considering disciplinary action against officers who mistreat people, and training officers on the differences between policing young people.

“We need changes and reform, and each time something happens, after two or three weeks, we go back to the same thing,' said Theresa Brown of Christ for the World International.

The NYPD says it accepts all of the CCRB’s recommendations, some of which are already being implemented, including training officers in how to interact with kids. Also, in January, the NYPD announced its new youth strategy, an outgrowth of its neighborhood policing philosophy. It has also created a new youth coordination officer in every precinct.