$82 Million Paid In NYPD Misconduct Lawsuits In 2024 So Far: Analysis

NEW YORK CITY – The city has paid over $82 million in police misconduct settlements this year as of July 30, 2024, according to a newly released Legal Aid Society analysis.

At the current rate, payouts in 2024 could surpass $140 million, the highest in years.

That’s more than the budget of Burlington, Vermont, which passed a $107.8 million dollar budget earlier this summer.

With the latest numbers included, misconduct lawsuits – which involve police officers and typically concern things like excessive use of force, wrongful arrest, or fabrication of evidence – have cost taxpayers about $630 million since 2018.

That number is more than the entire annual budget of a city like Savannah or Chattanooga.

But the real cost of police misconduct may be much higher.

A $151 Million Question

According to Legal Aid, misconduct settlements totaled about $115 million in 2023.

That's considerably less than the total released by the Comptroller’s office earlier this year. It reported that the NYPD had paid out $266.7 million in settlements in FY 2023.

The difference between these two numbers? About $151 million.

It’s worth noting that Legal Aid is counting payments made in a calendar year, whereas the Comptroller’s office is counting payments made in a fiscal year.

Nevertheless, Jennvine Wong, Supervising Attorney with Legal Aid's Cop Accountability Project, wasn’t surprised that the figure released by the Comptroller’s office was much higher.

“It would be more inclusive of all claims,” she explained.

Wong suggested that the Comptroller’s office is likely counting settlements made before a lawsuit was filed. Since Legal Aid’s analysis is based on a NYC Law Department release of civil lawsuit data, this analysis wouldn’t capture settlements made before a lawsuit was filed.

A spokesperson for the Comptroller's office confirmed that their figure does include claims which were settled before lawsuits were filed.

Whether it's $115 million or $266.7 million, the sums are enormous.

“New Yorkers should be demanding real accountability,” Wong wrote in an email. “The city keeps paying out astronomical amounts for officers that violate the constitutional rights of civilians, and letting those officers go scot-free – there is no kind of remediation or training, no discipline, no accountability. It's beyond time for the City to take these issues more seriously when it comes to paying out and being liable for officers’ bad behavior.”

Reports of incomplete misconduct settlement data have been circulating since at least 2019.

According to City & State, the city may have paid $2.2 billion over the past decade to resolve litigation related to police misconduct.