NYPD cops in East New York’s 75th Precinct sued a whopping 47 timesin past year
BY Lauren Klose and Graham Rayman — Wednesday, June 29th, 2016 ‘The New York Daily News’
Cops in one Brooklyn precinct were sued more than twice as many times in federal court as police officers in the city’s second most-sued precinct over the past year, a new study reveals.
Cops in the 75th Precinct in East New York were sued 47 times from June 2015 through May 2016, the Legal Aid study showed.
Officers in the next most-sued precinct, the 73rd Precinct in Brownsville, were sued 19 times.
“This indicates to me there is a huge problem in the 75th Precinct,” said City Councilwoman Inez Barron, who represents East New York.
Citywide, police officers were sued 966 times in federal court during the same period, the study found.
Counting lawsuits filed in state court, the NYPD is sued roughly 4,000 times a year, city Law Department officials said.
Lawsuits filed in state court could not be easily broken down by precinct because electronic court records are not as easily available as in federal court, Legal Aid officials said.
Cops in the 6th Precinct in Greenwich Village and the 81st Precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant were each sued 16 times, while officers in the 79th Precinct, also in Bedford-Stuyvesant, was sued 15 times.
The study was made public at a City Council hearing regarding a bill which would require the city to more closely track and analyze lawsuits filed against the NYPD — and publicly release information on those lawsuits every six months. The information would include the basics about each case and the amount of any settlement that was reached.
The number of lawsuits filed against the Police Department has dramatically increased over the past decade, City Councilman Vincent Gentile said. In fiscal year 2014, the city paid out more than $216 million to resolve claims against the NYPD.
Cynthia Conti-Cook, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society, said the bill should be broadened to also track more details about each claim, including the type of force used and any disciplinary action taken.
While the city Law Department testified Tuesday in support of the bill, neither the NYPD nor the Inspector General overseeing the department showed for the hearing — something that caused consternation among the City Council committee.
“It's unfortunate that they weren't here,” said Council member Jumaane Williams. “They should have been here.”
A city Department of Investigation spokeswoman declined to comment. The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Legal Aid study showed that in those lawsuits where the race of the plaintiff was listed, 82% of plaintiffs were black and just 2% were white.
Nearly 40% of the lawsuits were about incidents that happened in Brooklyn, while 25% took place in Manhattan.
Claims of false arrest were made in 759 of the federal lawsuits — or 78.5%. Plaintiffs claimed they went to the hospital in 64% of the lawsuits.
Thirty-two of the lawsuits involved allegations that cops mistreated people who were video- or audio-taping them.
Eleven of those incidents took place in Brooklyn, and 10 in Manhattan.
