The officers’ affidavits, which cover a period from 2011 to 2015, were only made public last month as a crackdown on fare evasion in the subway was becoming a contentious political issue.

Transit authorities have authorized a plan by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to add hundreds of additional officers to the subways, fueling a debate about overly aggressive policing and making poverty a crime.

Videos of arrests of young black men and a Latino churro vendor in the subway in recent months went viral online, stirring anger among those who believe the police are too aggressive and prompting protests that included turnstile-jumping.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the city’s subways and buses, has said it is losing millions of dollars because of fare evasion and that it needs the 500 transit police officers proposed by Mr. Cuomo to address the problem. Some elected officials have opposed the move, saying it will worsen the racial disparities in arrests.

“Fare evasion is a $300 million annual problem that should be addressed in a way that does not unjustly target any specific group or community,” Ken Lovett, an authority spokesman said. “We are committed to assisting the attorney general with her inquiry in any way we can.”

From October 2017 to June 2019, during stops when race was recorded, 73 percent of the people who received a ticket for fare evasion and 90 percent of those who were arrested on that charge were black and Hispanic, according to police data.

In the letter sent to Mr. Shea, civil rights investigators from Ms. James’s office asked that the Police Department to turn over documents that would provide a complete picture of fare evasion enforcement since October 2017.