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Council Snubbed by Police on Reporting Bill
December 11th, 2009

This was filed from Gotham Gazette’s Dana Farrington from City Hall.

Several members of the City Council want to force the city’s corporation counsel to report on civil lawsuits against the NYPD — an attempt to hold the police accountable for not only the number of them, but also to prevent further misconduct and unchecked settlements.

For now, though, the department doesn’t appear to be taking their threat seriously.

At a hearing held on the bill (Intro 1025), which is sponsored by the council’s public safety committee chairman, Peter Vallone, this morning, two voices were notably absent: the Law Department and the police. William Heinzen, deputy counselor to the mayor who testified on behalf of the administration, said he shared the council’s goal in trying to curb the number of lawsuits, but the city does not collect that type of data.

Councilmember Helen Sears said the police department failed to respond to the committee’s request for an appearance. Sears suggested that a way to sidestep the lack of cooperation would be to present the issue as a budgetary matter to “get at their pockets” and make them pay attention.

Both the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Legal Aid Society support the bill. NYCLU Associate Legal Director Christopher Dunn suggested this morning that the committee look into broadening the type of information gathered, including profiles of both the person who files the initial complaint and the officer to divulge larger trends. Dunn hopes that the report will circulate to a larger audience, including the Civilian Complaint Review Board and the comptroller’s office. The civil rights group filed a lawsuit itself against the police in November for failing to release information about police shootings since 1997.

Steven B. Wasserman from the Legal Aid Society. He recommended the committee look towards information already filed regarding civil cases, such as the initial “notice of claim” filed with the city within 90 days by the plaintiff for state cases. Wasserman also pointed to the detailed profiles of claims filed against municipalities, which include claims against the police. This information is available more quickly.

According to a report issued by the comptroller’s office in March, 1,531 settlements were made in 2008, compared to only 287 in 2004. The recent numbers are almost double the number of settlements during 2007. Of claims filed in 2008, 55 percent were related to personal injury.

Leo Glickman, a partner of Stoll, Glickman & Bellina, LLP, recommended that the council add a provision to the bill that would organize claims information by individual precincts in order to address repeat offenders and take preventative, localized action against “problem precincts.”

The legislation was laid over by the committee and given the time remaining in this legislative session, which ends this month, it is unlikely this bill will be approved.

By Courtney Gross on December 11, 2009, 2:13 pm
In category: City Hall, Crime & Safety, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing, Law, nextNY | No Comments »

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