NYC has spent $82 million on police misconduct lawsuits this year

https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-has-spent-82-million-on-police-misconduct-lawsuits-this-year-advocacy-group-says

NYC has spent $82 million on police misconduct lawsuits this year, advocacy group


The city has paid out at least $82 million in police misconduct lawsuits so far this year — a 61% increase from the same period last year, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Legal Aid Society, a New York City-based advocacy and public defender group.

Since 2018, police misconduct awards and settlements have cost taxpayers more than $500 million, the organization found. Just 10 NYPD officers accounted for $68 million in misconduct payouts from 2013 to 2023.

Legal Aid attorney Jennvine Wong said the data shows that the city and NYPD don’t take discipline seriously.

“What other employer would keep an employee who costs them that much?” Wong said.

The city’s police oversight agency has substantiated complaints against nearly 5,000 of the NYPD’s roughly 36,000 officers, records show. But the NYPD commissioner holds the power to discipline officers, and he adhered to the oversight agency’s recommendations in just 55% of cases last year, down from 71% in 2021.