“The NYPD can better use police litigation data to improve officer performance and identify trends of police misconduct,” the Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD said in a statement on Tuesday.
More than 15,000 lawsuits were filed against the NYPD in the past five years, an increase of 44 percent, which have cost New York City more than $200 million, according to the statement.
The report found that while the NYPD tracked information collected from police litigation such as complaints against police officers, it did not track some key indicators such as the core allegations made in the claims.
“By carefully combing through the information contained in these lawsuits and legal claims, and omitting lawsuits that are clearly without merit, the NYPD and the City can begin taking necessary corrective actions to drive down these costs,” according to the Office of the Inspector General.
The report said the needed data would allow the NYPD to monitor the behavior of officers as well as identify at-risk officers who may require guidance, instruction or discipline.
The Office of the Inspector General-NYPD was created in 2014 under Mayor Bill de Blasio to investigate and review police operations in an effort to increase the public’s confidence in the police force, according to the Office’s website.
