All Sections Subscribe Log in

Thursday, September 7th 2023

87°F Daily News e-Edition
Evening e-Edition

E-Newspaper National News NYC Crime Politics Sports SNYDE Eats Photos Puzzles & Games Obits Transportation

Trending: Welcome to the new nydailynews.com Hurricane Lee Danny Masterson

News Crime and Public Safety

SUBSCRIBER ONLY

City on track to pay $100M for NYPD abuse lawsuits this year, Legal Aid
Society says

Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News

NYC is on track to pay out more than $100 million in police misconduct payouts for the second year in a row.

By John Annese | JANNESE@nydailynews.com | New York Daily News

PUBLISHED: September 7, 2023 at 7:15 p.m. | UPDATED: September 7, 2023 at 7:51 p.m.

New York City is on track to pay out more than $100 million in police misconduct payouts for the
second year in a row, according to an analysis by the Legal Aid Society.

The municipal government has already paid out roughly $50.5 million in the first seven months of
the year, and median payouts for misconduct lawsuits continue to rise to the highest level in five
years, the public defender group says.

“It’s atroubling trend that the payout amount is still continuing to increase,” said Jennvine Wong, a
staff attorney for Legal Aid’s Special Litigation Unit. “Many of these officers named in these
lawsuits already have a history of misconduct, so that to me shows a troubling continuation of the
NYPD accountability and disciplinary system not really working very well.”

Legal Aid’s analysis is based on data regularly released by the comptroller’s office, meaning the
final totals for the year could be even higher. The analysis doesn’t count money paid out by the city
comptroller’s office prior to the lawsuits ending up in court.

The city has come to a disposition, either by settlement or verdict, in 461 misconduct cases so far
this year, with the median payout sitting at $25,000, according to the analysis. That number has
been steadily increasing since 2018, when it was $10,500.

“In the past seven months, the city has already shelled out over $50 million to compensate New
Yorkers who are brutalized by the NYPD, people who were wrongfully arrested, wrongfully
detained, people who faced NYPD, who faced excessive use of force,” Wong said.

Last year, the city shelled out more than $121 million in police misconduct lawsuit settlements in
2022 — the highest in at least five years.

The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Roughly 47% of the payout money comes from three wrongful conviction lawsuits.

Emmanuel Cooper, who spent 27 years in prison for the 1992 murder of MTA token booth clerk
Andres Barretto before his conviction was overturned in 2020, got a $10 million settlement in
April.

And in March, the city shelled out another $10 million settlement, this one to Felipe Rodrigruez,
who also spent 27 years behind bars for the brutal 1987 murder of a mom of three before he was
exonerated in 2019.

The city also paid out $3.68 million to Jawuan Fraser, who was locked up for two years awaiting
trial on a bogus robbery charge after an undercover officer tried to pressure him into selling drugs
and he tried to take a photo of the cop’s ID.

Many of the payouts come from violent arrests during the George Floyd protests, according to
Legal Aid.

They include a $415,000 total payment to two state lawmakers — former Assemblywoman Diana
Richardson and Sen. Zellnor Myrie, both Brooklyn Democrats — who were rammed with bike
wheels by the NYPD, pepper-sprayed and roughly arrested at a May 2020 George Floyd protest
outside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, according to a 2021 lawsuit.

Earlier this week, the NYPD agreed to reform how it polices demonstrations in the city as part of a
landmark settlement resolving several protest cases brought after the 2020 George Floyd
demonstrations.

Wong said that some smaller-amount settlements and judgments also point to a trend of police
officers making false statements during criminal proceedings — in one case, cops searching an
apartment claimed that a suspect was seen possessing marijuana when they showed up, when the
reality was the suspect arrived after police entered the apartment and had no pot.

“Civil lawsuits, they should still be paid attention to by the department, by others, because it could
be a canary in the coal mine situation,” Wong said.

John Annese Courts Reporter |

John Annese covers federal and state courts in Brooklyn for the New York Daily News. Before coming to the News in 2015, he reported
on crime, courts, and the Staten Island opioid epidemic for the Staten Island Advance. He is the recipient of several New York State
Associated Press Association Awards.

2023 September 7

More in Uncategorized

Manhunt underway after homicide NYPD hunts sicko who took Judge orders Rio Grande floating Attorneys general from all 50
suspect escapes from Washington pictures up 11-year-old girl’s skirt barriers removed; Gov. Abbott states ask Congress to combat AI-
D.C. hospital in Brooklyn vows Supreme Court fight child pornography

Tribune Publishing Company Info Subscriber Services

Chicago Tribune About Us Archives
Baltimore Sun Careers
The Morning Call Help Center
The Daily Press Manage Web Notifications
The Virginian Pilot Place an ad
Orlando Sentinel Media Kit
Sun-Sentinel Privacy Policy
Hartford Courant Site Map
Capital Gazette
Studio 1847

Subscriber Terms and Conditions Cookie Policy Cookie Preferences California Notice at Collection CA Notice of Financial Incentive Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information Copyright © 2023 New York Daily News