A review of hundreds of street stops by the New York Police Department last year found that in over one-quarter, officers failed to document the suspicion that prompted them to stop someone for questioning. In most instances, sergeants signed off on the stop-and-frisk paperwork even when the forms filled out by officers omitted required information.

When street stops led to an arrest, officers rarely documented the stop, in violation of Police Department policy. When people were stopped and questioned, but not arrested, the officers involved rarely gave them a “tear-off” receipt — a new practice intended to bring more accountability to the encounters and help repair strained police-community relations from years of excessive stops among blacks and Hispanics.

The findings, and others, come from departmental audits that analyzed several concentrated periods of stop-and-frisk activity last year. They are described in the second report filed by the federal monitor, Peter L. Zimroth, to the judge overseeing several court-imposed changes for the police.

Taken together, they portray a department still struggling to make its routine inquiries of citizens compliant with the Constitution.