The Legal Aid Society said on Monday that it sent a letter to the Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD demanding an investigation into recent in-custody deaths following a number of arrests this year.
In the demand for action, attorneys with the social justice law firm said that at least five people have perished after being cuffed by the NYPD in 2025. Three such fatalities occurred inside courthouses and involved individuals arrested for what they cited as low-level crimes.
In one incident from late last month, the Legal Aid Society even suggested that police were intentionally negligent.
Attorneys say 46-year-old Christopher Nieves, who was awaiting arraignment at Kings County Criminal Court after being arrested for shoplifting at a supermarket, showed signs of sickness. They say his lawyer saw him collapse several times and said he appeared to be suffering from yellowed skin and had his foot bandaged.
The legal representatives also charged that his lawyer and Nieves himself asked to be transferred to a hospital, but he died in custody hours later.
“The fact that New Yorkers are dying while in the NYPD’s custody, and detained at state courthouses on low-level charges, is unconscionable,” said Meghna Philip, director of the Special Litigation Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “The NYPD’s so-called ‘quality of life’ policing is targeting vulnerable New Yorkers for petty offenses and literally costing lives. NYPD’s systemic failures, lack of transparency, and ongoing unlawful detention practices are unacceptable. These deaths demand urgent, independent investigation and structural reform.”
Nieves’ death follows that of 32-year-old Soso Ramishvili, who was also found unconscious and responsive, awaiting arraignment at Kings County Criminal Court in March. He had been arrested for charges of petit larceny, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance.
In July, 18-year-old Saniyah Cheatham took her own life inside the Bronx’s 41st Precinct following a reported assault.
In its letter, the Legal Aid Society urged the NYPD inspector general to “collaborate with the CCRB to automatically initiate an investigation into any death that occurs in NYPD custody, and to publish findings to the public,” a method generally followed by the Board of Correction whenever an in-custody death occurs under the jurisdiction of the city’s Correction Department.
“[T]he Board of Correction initiates an independent investigation into the death, promptly issues a preliminary report, and subsequently issues a final report and analysis, including recommendations on operational changes that should be made to prevent future deaths. We strongly urge your office to collaborate with the CCRB to do the same for deaths in NYPD custody, and to publish these reports to the public,” part of the letter read.
In the letter, the Legal Aid Society also demanded that the inspector general examine the number of low-level arrests the department makes. According to the group, more than 66,000 people were arrested for low-level offenses in the first half of 2025. Additionally, they say fare evasion arrests doubled in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter of 2024.
Over the last several years, NYPD officials have repeatedly told amNewYork that they were cracking down on fare evasion, since cops say many of those committing crimes underground have been found to jump turnstiles.
Opponents charge that it is often low-income and Black and Brown New Yorkers who bear the brunt of the enforcement.
