NYPD police misconduct settlements cost city more than $205 million in 2024, Legal Aid report says
New York City last year paid out over $205 million to settle allegations of police misconduct — the highest in years — according to an analysis by the city’s Legal Aid Society intended to show a cost to the public of wrongly convicted defendants who had been denied key evidence during their prosecution and locked up for years.
The analysis, involving thousands of settlements since 2018, found that the total price tag to the public is over $750 million during those years.
And those figures do not account for settlements reached before cases went to formal litigation and were settled by the city comptroller’s office.
Mayor Eric Adams’ press office referred an inquiry to the NYPD’s press office, where a spokesman declined to comment.
Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to undo some of the changes made to the state’s discovery laws, made under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tenure in 2019. Those changes were meant to make sure that evidence is shared by prosecutors with defendants in court cases on a timely basis so that they can mount a defense.
The society opposes undoing the changes, saying that under the old system, important evidence often wasn’t turned over until the eve of trial, leading to wrongful convictions that ultimately cost the city high payouts.
Hochul has said she wants to undo the changes because too many cases are being tossed on minor technicalities — a contention opponents, such as the Legal Aid Society, dispute.
The analysis showed that in 2024, there were 953 suits totaling $205.6 million; 824 suits in 2023 of $116.2 million; 974 in 2022 of $135.3 million; 762 in 2021 of $88.2 million; 932 in 2020 of $62.1 million; 1,280 in 2019 of $71.8 million; 1,577 in 2018 of $76.4 million
“The staggering payout totals for 2024 prove that the City would rather spend tens of millions in taxpayer dollars each year than take decisive action to dismantle the culture of impunity within the NYPD that allows this gross misconduct to persist,” Amanda Jack, a policy director with the society, said in a news release.
Among the settlements cited in the report was a 1996 case, settled last year with a payout of $14.7 million, in which a man named Norberto Peets was imprisoned for almost 26 years for a crime he didn’t commit after, the defense contended, his involvement with a shooting was fabricated by police. The NYPD withheld information such as an alternative suspect and destroyed exculpatory biological evidence, according to the report.
Another case cited by the society was of James Davis, who was imprisoned for 17 years for a 2004 arrest; the conviction was vacated in 2021.
“Had the exculpatory information withheld by the police been shared with the prosecutors and the defense, Mr. Davis may not have been tried, much less convicted. Furthermore, had the current discovery laws been in place at the time, the police would not have been able to hide the witness’ statement nor would the prosecutor have been in a position to go to trial without speaking to this eyewitness and obtaining the information for herself,” the society wrote in a news release.
That case settled last year for $8.5 million.
A report earlier this month from the city’s independent investigator of police misconduct found that while complaints against the NYPD are up, many accused officers aren’t facing discipline.
New York City last year paid out over $205 million to settle allegations of police misconduct — the highest in years — according to an analysis by the city’s Legal Aid Society intended to show a cost to the public of wrongly convicted defendants who had been denied key evidence during their prosecution and locked up for years.
The analysis, involving thousands of settlements since 2018, found that the total price tag to the public is over $750 million during those years.
And those figures do not account for settlements reached before cases went to formal litigation and were settled by the city comptroller’s office.
Mayor Eric Adams’ press office referred an inquiry to the NYPD’s press office, where a spokesman declined to comment.
Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to undo some of the changes made to the state’s discovery laws, made under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tenure in 2019. Those changes were meant to make sure that evidence is shared by prosecutors with defendants in court cases on a timely basis so that they can mount a defense.
The society opposes undoing the changes, saying that under the old system, important evidence often wasn’t turned over until the eve of trial, leading to wrongful convictions that ultimately cost the city high payouts.
Hochul has said she wants to undo the changes because too many cases are being tossed on minor technicalities — a contention opponents, such as the Legal Aid Society, dispute.
The analysis showed that in 2024, there were 953 suits totaling $205.6 million; 824 suits in 2023 of $116.2 million; 974 in 2022 of $135.3 million; 762 in 2021 of $88.2 million; 932 in 2020 of $62.1 million; 1,280 in 2019 of $71.8 million; 1,577 in 2018 of $76.4 million
“The staggering payout totals for 2024 prove that the City would rather spend tens of millions in taxpayer dollars each year than take decisive action to dismantle the culture of impunity within the NYPD that allows this gross misconduct to persist,” Amanda Jack, a policy director with the society, said in a news release.
Among the settlements cited in the report was a 1996 case, settled last year with a payout of $14.7 million, in which a man named Norberto Peets was imprisoned for almost 26 years for a crime he didn’t commit after, the defense contended, his involvement with a shooting was fabricated by police. The NYPD withheld information such as an alternative suspect and destroyed exculpatory biological evidence, according to the report.
Another case cited by the society was of James Davis, who was imprisoned for 17 years for a 2004 arrest; the conviction was vacated in 2021.
“Had the exculpatory information withheld by the police been shared with the prosecutors and the defense, Mr. Davis may not have been tried, much less convicted. Furthermore, had the current discovery laws been in place at the time, the police would not have been able to hide the witness’ statement nor would the prosecutor have been in a position to go to trial without speaking to this eyewitness and obtaining the information for herself,” the society wrote in a news release.
That case settled last year for $8.5 million.
A report earlier this month from the city’s independent investigator of police misconduct found that while complaints against the NYPD are up, many accused officers aren’t facing discipline.
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