The NYC Comptroller’s Office has found growing excessive force allegations against the NYPD in the past three years, according to a report published on September 22. Use of force-related investigations completed by the city’s independent police oversight agency, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), rose by 49% between 2022 and 2023.
“Our goal must be to prevent misconduct before it happens, rather than leaving communities to pay the price in harm, trauma, and costly settlements after the fact,” said NYC Comptroller Brad Lander in a statement. “The NYPD’s early intervention system is a good start, but this data shows it doesn’t go far enough to root out misconduct. Our recommendations call for a data-driven, management-forward approach that targets precincts where excessive force and claims are concentrated to reduce harm, save taxpayer dollars, and begin to rebuild trust and advance racial justice in communities most impacted.”
The findings of Lander’s office stem from two main sources: the CCRB’s complaint data and litigation against the city, because lawsuits over monetary damages often go through the city comptroller before they can be settled. The analysis claims to be “first-of-its-kind” by breaking down excessive use-of-force allegations at a precinct level.
Four specific commands (the Bronx’s 40th and 44th, and Brooklyn’s 73rd and 75th) faced more than 100 complaints over the past three years. All four serve majority Black and Brown populations who represent more than a combined 85% of local residents. The Comptroller’s Office also found five precincts cost the city more than $3 million in lawsuit payouts since 2019 and five other precincts saw the biggest increase in use-of-force complaints in the past three years, ranging from 93% to 323%.
As a result, the report recommends that the NYPD target these “high-risk” precincts and address culture issues through command-wide training and reforming leadership practices, rather than simply relying on the department’s Early Intervention System (EIS), which flags individual at-risk officers and provides them with diversionary guidance.
The Comptroller’s Office also suggested passing the buck on police misconduct settlements to the NYPD budget, similarly to how NYC Health + Hospitals, the public benefit corporation running the city’s integrated healthcare system, eats a portion of lawsuit costs. The report claims such a measure will “promote accountability, incentivize prevention, and reduce overall city liability.”
Still, EIS can screen and monitor officers who show warning signs of potentially violent behavior to prevent future use-of-force incidents, as well as provide them with non-punitive support.
In response, the NYPD pointed to steadily declining substantiation rates for use-of-force allegations through the CCRB from 12% in 2021 to 5% last year. The department also argued that ComplianceStat — weekly data-based officer accountability briefings implemented by Commissioner Jessica Tisch in her first year — already addresses the comptroller’s recommendations to bolster the EIS.
“Over the last few years, the Department has taken monumental steps, such as through regular ComplianceStat meetings and revamped oversight and discipline processes, to improve compliance,” said an NYPD spokesperson in response. “Ensuring compliance and preventing excessive force are fundamental to the NYPD’s mission.”
However, the Comptroller’s Office contends that ComplianceStat does not directly tackle use-of-force complaints and instead exists to fulfill the department’s own compliance with a federal monitor, assigned after the city was found liable for unconstitutional stop-and-frisk practices more than 10 years ago. While excessive force may certainly be addressed in these meetings, the report specifically calls for dedicated efforts.
“While the NYPD has taken meaningful steps to strengthen accountability under Commissioner Tisch, including higher rates of discipline in substantiated CCRB cases, this report makes clear that serious gaps remain — and that discipline alone is not enough,” said Lander. “We need to move beyond reacting after the fact toward real culture change and prevention — through better use of data, stronger training and supervision in the precincts where use of excessive force persists, and financial accountability for the NYPD — to stop excessive force before it occurs.”