New York City Shells Out $117 Million to Resolve Police Misconduct Claims
In the past year, New York City has disbursed over $117 million to settle lawsuits related to police misconduct, with the cumulative total nearing $800 million over the last seven years, according to a recent analysis.
These hefty payouts coincide with the city’s struggle against a significant budget deficit.
Among the largest settlements last year was a staggering $24.1 million awarded to two men who spent more than 20 years wrongfully imprisoned for a robbery in Manhattan dating back to 1986. Additionally, $5.75 million was paid to an individual who alleged that police officers blinded him in one eye with a stun gun.
The figures, released by The Legal Aid Society, a non-profit public defender organization, underscore the financial implications of police actions on the city’s budget.
As Mayor Zohran Mamdani proposes a $22 million reduction to the NYPD’s $6.4 billion budget amidst a $5.4 billion deficit, the city reports declining crime rates.
Interestingly, these settlements are drawn from a distinct segment of the city’s budget, unlike other jurisdictions where they are funded directly from police operational budgets.
Jennvine Wong, supervising attorney for the Cop Accountability Project at The Legal Aid Society, remarked, "This analysis is really about transparency around what the NYPD is costing us." She added, “From what we can tell here, I think it means that meaningful accountability has been lacking in the police department. It’s a chronic problem that needs to be addressed."
In total, the city resolved 1,044 police misconduct lawsuits in 2025, marking the highest number since 2019 when 1,276 cases were settled. This marks the fourth consecutive year that settlements have surpassed $100 million. Last year’s total was nearly double the $62.1 million paid in 2020 for 929 lawsuits. In 2024, the city allocated $206.4 million for 980 lawsuits.
These figures represent only a fraction of the overall costs associated with police misconduct. The Legal Aid Society’s analysis focuses solely on lawsuit settlements and does not account for claims resolved by the city comptroller before formal litigation.
Of last year’s settlements, approximately $42 million pertained to wrongful convictions, while nearly a quarter of the total payout—$28 million—was linked to incidents occurring over two decades ago.
Such cases have significantly contributed to the $796 million paid by the city to settle police misconduct lawsuits since 2019, according to the NYPD.
“While these cases are very important to address, they tell you nothing about the state of policing today," stated the department in a response.
Under Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch's leadership, the NYPD claims to have implemented substantial measures aimed at enhancing accountability and revising outdated policies that may pose greater risks.
The department also collaborates closely with district attorneys' offices across the city, providing necessary materials to assist in reviewing cases involving wrongful arrests and convictions.
The two men wrongfully convicted in the 1986 robbery case, Eric Smokes and David Warren, received $13 million and $11.1 million respectively. Their lawsuit filed in 2024 in federal court alleged that a corrupt detective relied on testimony from an emotionally troubled and drug-addicted teenager seeking leniency for his own robbery charges.
Three out of four witnesses who identified Smokes and Warren as the perpetrators did so only after being threatened with criminal charges, according to their lawsuits.
Another settlement of $3.9 million was awarded to Steven Lopez, who was arrested alongside the Central Park Five—now known as the Exonerated Five—after their convictions for a 1989 rape were overturned. While the Five faced trial, Lopez pleaded guilty to a lesser charge under immense pressure from law enforcement and public scrutiny.
Other notable settlements included $1.7 million awarded to four protesters who claimed they were assaulted by officers during a June 2020 demonstration in Brooklyn following George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police.
The city also paid $5.2 million to nine individuals who alleged they were framed by two officers between 2014 and 2016; those officers were later convicted of falsifying evidence.
A recent court-appointed monitor criticized the NYPD for inadequate supervision and underreporting of officers' use of stop-and-frisk tactics. In 2013, a federal judge ruled that the NYPD's frequent application of this tactic violated the civil rights of Black and Hispanic residents.
Although the department has significantly reduced stop-and-frisk incidents since then, compliance rates with constitutional protections remain “unacceptably low,” according to monitor Mylan L. Denerstein.
The NYPD's staggering settlement costs indicate an urgent need for reforms to mitigate misconduct; Wong emphasized that “a lack of accountability has continued to contribute to a culture of impunity.”
“These judgments and settlement costs are costing the city so much money and are costing victims of police misconduct not just monetary losses but also causing real human trauma that they carry with them,” she concluded.
