NYPD Misconduct Payouts Could Cost $100M This Year, Advocates Say

NEW YORK CITY — New York City could shell out more than $100 million in NYPD misconduct payouts for the second year running, a new analysis found.

City taxpayers have already ponied up $50.5 million in misconduct lawsuit payouts from January to July, The Legal Aid Society found.

The rate puts the city on track to surpass payout amounts for every recent year except 2022, when the tally reached $135 million.

"This culture of impunity cannot continue, and we implore recently appointed Commissioner Edward Caban to prove to New Yorkers that NYPD will finally take the steps needed to truly hold officers accountable who infringe on the rights of our clients," said Jennvine Wong, staff attorney with Legal Aid's Cop Accountability Project, in a statement.

"Anything less will only perpetuate this suffering with taxpayers footing the bill."

An NYPD spokesperson said a substantial portion of those payouts stem from wrongful convictions that occurred decades ago.

“These cases, and the resulting payments, do not speak to the NYPD’s policies and practices today,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “In fact, there has been a nearly 20% reduction in actions filed against the NYPD from 2020 to 2022, and an over 50% reduction since 2013.”

The payouts this year include high-profile misconduct cases from the 2020 George Floyd protests, including a $415,000 settlement stemming from the arrest of state Sen. Zellnor Myrie.

Myrie and former Assembly Member Diana Richardson were pepper sprayed as they attended a protest at Barclays Center that descended into chaos.

The pair eventually sued the NYPD and received $15,000 payouts each, with their attorneys receiving $385,000, THE CITY reported.

The typical, or median, payout in misconduct cases so far this year totaled $25,000, which is higher than the previous five years, the Legal Aid analysis found.

And the total payouts for police misconduct are likely much higher because the data didn't include matters settled with the city comptroller's office, Legal Aid advocates said.