NYC Pays Nearly $800M for Police Misconduct Settlements Since 2019

The city's payouts for lawsuits involving excessive force, wrongful convictions, and other misconduct have skyrocketed in recent years.

Published on Mar. 2, 2026

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New York City has paid nearly $800 million to settle police misconduct lawsuits over the past seven years, with over $117 million paid out in 2025 alone. The settlements ranged from cases involving the violent arrests of protesters in 2020 to wrongful convictions dating back to the 1980s. The analysis by the Legal Aid Society highlights the city's staggering costs related to police misconduct and the lack of accountability within the NYPD.

Why it matters

The high costs of police misconduct settlements in New York City raise concerns about the need for greater accountability and oversight within the NYPD. The payouts, which come from the city's budget, divert funds that could be used for other public services. The analysis also suggests that meaningful reforms to address the culture of impunity within the police department have been lacking.

The details

In 2025, New York City paid over $117 million to settle 1,044 police misconduct lawsuits, the most since 2019 when 1,276 lawsuits were resolved. The largest settlements included $24.1 million for two men who spent over 20 years in prison after being wrongly convicted, and $5.75 million for a man who said police blinded him with a stun gun. About $42 million of the 2025 settlements were for wrongful convictions, and $28 million involved incidents that occurred more than two decades ago.

  • In 2025, the city settled 1,044 police misconduct lawsuits, the most since 2019 when 1,276 were resolved.
  • From 2019 to 2025, the city paid nearly $800 million to settle police misconduct lawsuits.

The players

The Legal Aid Society

A nonprofit public defender organization that released the analysis of New York City's police misconduct settlement costs.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani

The mayor of New York City who has proposed trimming $22 million from the NYPD's $6.4 billion budget.

Jessica Tisch

The New York City Police Commissioner who has taken steps to increase accountability and compliance within the department.

Mylan L. Denerstein

A court-appointed monitor who criticized the NYPD for poorly supervising and underreporting officers' use of the stop-and-frisk tactic.

Jennvine Wong

The supervising attorney with the Legal Aid Society's Cop Accountability Project.

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What they’re saying

“This analysis is really about transparency around what the NYPD is costing us. And 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.”

— Jennvine Wong, Supervising Attorney, Cop Accountability Project, The Legal Aid Society (ksgf.com)

“While these cases are very important to address, they tell you nothing about the state of policing today.”

— NYPD (ksgf.com)

What’s next

The court-appointed monitor, Mylan L. Denerstein, will continue to oversee the NYPD's use of stop-and-frisk tactics and compliance with constitutional protections.

The takeaway

The staggering costs of police misconduct settlements in New York City highlight the urgent need for greater accountability and reform within the NYPD. The city must address the culture of impunity that has allowed these incidents to persist, in order to reduce the financial and human toll on both taxpayers and victims of police misconduct.