New York Attorney General Letitia James is calling for a federal court-appointed monitor to oversee changes within the NYPD, as part of a new lawsuit accusing the department of violating the civil rights of New Yorkers who marched against racist police violence during the spring and summer of last year.
In a scathing complaint filed in federal court on Thursday, James detailed months of "illegal and harmful" conduct by NYPD officers in the wake of George Floyd's killing by police in Minneapolis.
She pointed to a "blatant use of excessive force and misconduct, including indiscriminate and unjustified use of batons, bicycles, pepper spray and a crowd control tactic known as kettling" — actions that were widely condemned across the city at the time, but defended by Mayor Bill de Blasio and his police leadership as necessary to quell the unrest.
In addition to the mayor, the lawsuit names Police Commissioner Dermot Shea and Chief of Department Terence Monahan. Because those leaders are "unable and unwilling" to address that pattern of unchecked abuse, James said, the Southern District of New York should appoint a new oversight monitor, charged with overseeing the NYPD's strategy for policing protests.
James said her office had received complaints about the police from more than 100 people, including legal observers, medics, and bystanders who said they were attacked by police officers without warning.
The complaint calls on the court to declare that the NYPD violated the 1st, 4th, and 14th amendment rights of New Yorkers. It marks the first time that New York Attorney General's office has exercised their authority to sue police departments, according to legal experts, who praised the move.
"There is a shaming function of bringing lawsuits like this," said Corey Stoughton, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society. "I think it sends an enormously strong signal to Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Shea that they did something wrong and that they should be accountable for it."
A legal observer from the National Lawyers Guild is arrested in Mott Haven in the Bronx in June 2020.
In a statement, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that he had met with James on Wednesday, and "couldn't agree more that there are pressing reforms that must — and will — be made this year."
But he added that "a court process and the added bureaucracy of a federal monitor will not speed up that work."
The report follows an investigation released by the city last month, which also found pervasive failures in the NYPD's protest policing strategy and preparations. De Blasio has said that he agrees with the findings of that report, but stopped short of calling for additional discipline or changes within his department leadership.
Asked about the lawsuit, an NYPD spokesperson said that "another layer does not speed up the process of continued reform, which we have embraced and led the way on."
To date, just ten officers have faced disciplined for alleged misconduct during the Floyd protests. Three were suspended, one was placed on modified duty, and one was criminally arrested, according to a City Hall spokesperson.
The NYPD is currently under a federal monitor tasked with overseeing sweeping stop-and-frisk reforms. The monitor has not yet deemed the NYPD to be fully in compliance with reforms.
You can read the lawsuit in full below.
