New York City paid an eye-popping $117 million in payouts in 2025 to settle NYPD misconduct claims, the Legal Aid Society said Monday.
The non-profit legal services organization determined that figure based on an analysis of city data; since 2019, the society noted, New York City taxpayers have shelled out more than $796 million to resolve similar claims.
“New Yorkers are once again paying the price for alleged police misconduct, and the numbers from the full 2025 calendar year make clear that this pattern continues,” said Jennvine Wong, supervising attorney with the Cop Accountability Project at The Legal Aid Society. “In most professions, conduct that repeatedly exposes an employer to that level of financial liability would trigger serious scrutiny and consequences. When meaningful accountability is absent, it reinforces a culture of impunity within the NYPD and further erodes trust among the communities the Department is meant to protect and serve.”
The Legal Aid Society used one case as an example, dating back to May 8, 2023, when they say Shakim McKnight was documenting police activity and was slammed to the ground.
The lawsuit alleged that cops placed their knees on his back, twisted his ankle, and applied excessively tight handcuffs despite complaints of pain. McKnight claimed he was detained for approximately eight hours and charged with offenses that were later dismissed in his favor. According to city data, the case was resolved in October 2025 for $250,000.
Costly NYPD misconduct claims come as NYC tackles big budget deficit
The Legal Aid Society pointed out that the massive cash flow from alleged wrongdoing by cops comes as Mayor Zohran Mamdani attempts to trim the fat from city agencies amid a budget crisis and multibillion-dollar deficits. This prompted Hizzoner to propose slashing the NYPD budget by $22 million.
Yet the NYPD pushed back on the Legal Aid Society’s findings. A police source stated that the ballooning payouts are a result of the department, under Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, being proactive and closing pending cases that have been ongoing for decades, many of which involve wrongful convictions.
“Many of these incidents occurred more than 20 years ago, and while these cases are very important to address, they tell you nothing about the state of policing today,” an NYPD spokesperson said. “Under Commissioner Tisch, the NYPD has taken significant steps to increase accountability, compliance, and change outdated policies that might create greater risk. The NYPD also works closely with the District Attorney’s Offices and their conviction review units to get them the materials they need to review these cases and ultimately secure these payouts.”
Police say that 41% of the $77 million stems from payouts for reverse conviction cases; another 36% of the $77 million, or $28 million, was for cases resulting from reverse convictions that occurred over two decades prior.
