Overtime Under Review: NYPD Overtime and the Increased Risk of Negative Policing Outcomes

By Department of Investigation, Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD (OIG-NYPD) 

  New York City Charter, Chapter 34, Sections 803 and 808, require the Department of Investigation’s (“DOI”) Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD (“OIG-NYPD” or “the Office”) to develop recommendations relating to the discipline, training, and monitoring of police officers and related operations, policies, programs, and practices of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD” or “the Department”) by considering, among other things, “patterns or trends identified by analyzing actions, claims, complaints, and investigations” filed against NYPD. This Report, the fourth issued in connection with that law, examines NYPD’s use of overtime hours and how those overtime hours may impact the likelihood that litigation, claims, or complaints will be brought against the Department. OIG-NYPD examined the relationship between NYPD’s overtime hours and certain outcomes that are both measurable and direct sources of liability risk to the City.  These outcomes included lawsuits, substantiated Civilian Complaint Review Board (“CCRB”) complaints, substantiated NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau (“IAB”) complaints, workplace injuries, on-duty vehicle collisions, and uses of force resulting in Threat, Resistance, or Injury Interaction (“T.R.I.”) Reports.  These outcomes have been referred to as “negative policing outcomes" (“NPOs”), and this Report uses that term.  Each NPO poses risks of liability to the City because lawsuits, as well  as certain events that may lead to lawsuits and complaints, such as vehicle accidents, misconduct, or alleged uses of force, may result in liability to the City. Not only is each NPO a source of potential liability for the City, each NPO potentially costs the City time, money, and resources to address, whether or not the City ultimately is deemed liable for that outcome. Financial payments made by the City to litigants in settlements or as a result of court judgments are one measurement of the costs of these NPOs. In Fiscal Year 2022, there were 4,580 civil tort claims filed against NYPD. Of those claims, 62% alleged personal injury as a result of police action (which should result in the completion of a T.R.I. Report). Alleged personal injury or property damage due to NYPD motor vehicle accidents accounted for 9% and 13% of claims, respectively. Alleged misconduct, such as officers’ actions which may result in a CCRB or IAB complaint, is more difficult to quantify precisely. Lawsuits alleging civil rights violations by NYPD made up 9% of claims.8 Lawsuits alleging tort claims against NYPD resolved in Fiscal Year 2022 cost the City $237.2 million. Figures in 2021 were similar, though the overall number of tort claims were higher, and the resolution of lawsuits against NYPD cost the city $206.7 million in 2021.   

New York: 2023. 66p.