NYC Pays $117M in NYPD Misconduct Settlements for 2025

New York City disbursed more than $117 million in 2025 to settle 1,044 lawsuits alleging misconduct by New York Police Department officers, marking the fourth consecutive year that such payouts exceeded $100 million, according to an analysis of city data by The Legal Aid Society.

The settlements covered a wide range of cases, from wrongful convictions dating back decades to instances of excessive force during arrests and protests. The total represents nearly double the $62.1 million paid in 2020, though it fell from the $206.4 million in 2024. Since 2019, the city has paid out over $796 million to resolve similar claims, with about 42 million of last year's amount tied to reversed convictions and nearly 28 million stemming from incidents more than two decades old.

Among the largest payouts were $13 million to Eric Smokes and $11.1 million to David Warren, two men who spent over 20 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted as teenagers in the 1987 fatal robbery of a French tourist near Times Square. Their federal lawsuit alleged that a corrupt detective coerced witnesses and relied on unreliable testimony to frame them. In another significant case, the city paid $5.75...