The city is on track to potentially pay $100 million for NYPD settlements this year, according to a projection from the Legal Aid Society.
The organization conducted an analysis of city data, finding that the city has already paid out more than $50 million in NYPD settlements. Its analysis also showed that total payouts for NYPD settlements has increased since 2020, including the median.
News 12 found that during the last fiscal year the city paid out the most money in its history between all claims and settlements. $1.5 billion was paid, according to a City Comptroller's report. The report notes that a large reason for that spike was a decades-old lawsuit settlement against the Department of Education.
In a statement an NYPD spokesperson wrote,
"The NYPD carefully analyzes allegations in civil lawsuits as well as trends in litigation against the Department. A substantial portion of the payouts in 2023 relate to a number of wrongful convictions that occurred decades ago. These cases, and the resulting payments, do not speak to the NYPD’s policies and practices today. 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.