Mary Altaffer/AP
Lawsuits from confrontations between the police and the public, like this May 2012 scuffle at an Occupy Wall Street protest, have led to more legal battles than actions against any other city agency.
THE NUMBER of lawsuits against the NYPD jumped by 10% in the 2011 fiscal year, with cases involving alleged misconduct leading the way, a new report revealed.
There were 8,882 suits filed against the NYPD from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011 â€" the most against any city agency during that period, according to an analysis of claims against the city performed by city Controller John Liu’s office.
Claims against the NYPD cost the city $ 185.6 million in fiscal 2011, an increase of 35% from the previous fiscal year, when the payout was $ 137.3 million, the report notes.
In all, the city paid out $ 550.4 million in personal injury and property damage settlements and judgments in fiscal 2011.
Jefferson Siegel for New York Daily News
Donna Lieberman (left, front), chief of the New York Civil Liberties Union, with (l. to r.) NYCLU lawyer Alexis Karteron, Dinah Ortiz and her son, plaintiff Angel Ortiz, 18, and Roberto Concepcion, lawyer for Latino Justice PRLDEF, speak out about NYPD stop-and-frisk policy in October.
That figure, which breaks down to $ 70 per resident to cover the total cost, was 5% greater than the $ 522 million tally from the previous fiscal year. The mayor’s office said statistics for claims from fiscal 2012 are not yet available.
The suits ranged from medical malpractice claims, to slips or falls, to police actions and motor vehicle damage claims.
The five agencies with the highest claim costs in fiscal 2011 were the NYPD, the Health and Hospitals Corp., and the departments of transportation, education and sanitation, according to the report.
Cases against the Sanitation Department were higher than usual in part because of motorists who claimed their cars were damaged by snowplows during major storms during that winter, including the blizzard shortly after Christmas 2010.
Cases against the NYPD stemmed from allegations of police misconduct, civil rights violations and personal injury or property damage resulting from motor vehicle accidents.
The most frequent type of personal-injury claims filed overall in fiscal 2011 were for police actions. The cases result from alleged improper police conduct, such as false arrest or imprisonment, the shooting of a suspect, excessive force or assault, or failure to provide protection, the report states.
Claims from police action rose 14%, from 3,996 to 4,561, in the period covered by the report. The number has nearly doubled since 2007.
Bloomberg spokesman John McCarthy said the decision to settle a lawsuit was not an indication of wrongdoing by a police officer.
“Police officers make more than 23 million contacts with the public each year and cope with incredibly difficult situations on a daily basis,†he said.
Criminal defense lawyer Joel Berger said that the spike in new lawsuits can be attributed to cases that arise from stop-and-frisks, marijuana busts and trespass arrests. “All of us who practice in this field are seeing a skyrocket in small cases,†Berger said. “The victims are flocking to the courts in record numbers.â€
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said there were “too many variables to draw definite conclusions†from the report.
“But what’s inescapable is a trend that reveals New Yorkers are unhappy enough with the way that they’re being treated by police that they are going to court a lot more often,†she said.
Civil rights suits against all city agencies were up 13%, from 2,680 in 2010 to 3,040 in 2011. Those types of lawsuits nearly doubled since 2007, when there were 1,569, the report showed.
With Joe Kemp
tmoore@nydailynews.com
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