A litany of legal groups officially sued the NYPD Wednesday over its controversial gang database, an index the police commissioner has repeatedly called imperative to apprehending dangerous criminals, but critics charge it leads to racial profiling.
Representatives from the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), The Legal Aid Society, The Bronx Defenders, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, and the law firm Ballard Spahr announced that they jointly filed a putative class-action complaint against the NYPD.
The main crux of the lawsuit alleges that police use the database to disproportionately target Black and Brown New Yorkers, violating the First, Fourth, and 14th Amendments.
“The NYPD has used its Gang Database to systematically target, surveil, and criminalize Black and Latino New Yorkers in violation of their constitutional rights,” said Kevin Jason, Deputy Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Legal Defense Fund. “We believe in a New York where everyone, including Black and Latino residents, is able to leave their homes, visit their friends, and engage in everyday activities without fear of police harassment and abuse. The only way to make that vision a reality is to end the Gang Database.”
The complaint alleges that Black and Brown individuals make up 99% of the index officially titled the Criminal Group Database. As a result, the plaintiffs argue that those on the list are subject to surveillance and are often stopped by cops.
The suit alleges that the NYPD’s actions related to the database are racially motivated, and makes some of those on the list too afraid to leave their homes.
“The NYPD’s Gang Database is a tool of racist policing — plain and simple,” charged Rigodis Appling, staff attorney in the Special Litigation Unit & Community Justice Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “It has terrorized the Black and Latino communities we serve, branding our clients as criminals without evidence and without any regard for the truth. This database has robbed people of their freedom, their safety, and their futures. We are proud to stand in this fight to dismantle a system that has inflicted so much harm, and demand justice for the thousands who have been unjustly targeted.”
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, on the other hand, vehemently disagrees with the charges in the lawsuit.
Over the last several months, the top cop has not only repeatedly supported the database but also rallied behind it, stating that it has proven essential in helping to capture extremely dangerous individuals wanted for serious violence around the five boroughs.
When reached for comment about the lawsuit Wednesday, the NYPD referred amNewYork to comments Tisch made at an April 8 press conference following a police takedown of the “LA World” and “Wuski” street gangs on April 8 connected to numerous Harlem shootings.
During the briefing, Tisch charged that some of the 16 arrested gang members could not have been cuffed without the database, which the City Council may move to outlaw through legislation being considered in the chamber.
“Detectives used one particular tool in this investigation that some in the City Council want to abolish, and that is the NYPD criminal group database,” she said. “This database helped our investigators understand the members of these gangs, and importantly, their rivalries. Calls to get rid of this tool are dangerous.”
The Legal Aid Society, however, says that the database operates without transparency or accountability and puts people of color at risk.
