NEW YORK—With the current laws on the books, claims against the NYPD are expected to jump from $740 million annually to $850 million. If the new racial profiling bill passes the City Council on Thursday, those claims could rise even higher, as New Yorkers can sue the city if they feel they are profiled.
Keeping tabs on claims against the city falls, in part, on the shoulders of the city comptroller. On Aug. 21, Democratic comptroller candidate Scott Stringer announced his plan to oversee claims against the city in a program he dubbed, “Claimstat.”
“This is about the prevention side, so we stop claims against the city,” Stringer said on Wednesday. “Every dollar we save by reducing claims is another dollar we can put to the services our communities need.”
The program will work similarly to something the NYPD currently uses called “Compstat,” which tracks the city’s crime stats. The new program will allow the NYPD to see which precincts are drawing more claims against them with monthly data.
Los Angeles uses a similar data-driven approach to analyzing claims. Within the first five years of using the program, litigation costs dropped by $30 million.
The comptroller’s office would be able to issue claims-tracking reports, however, it would be up to the police commissioner, or the mayor, to make changes within the NYPD or any other agency with high claims.
Stringer Proposes Tracking Claims Against City to Reign in Costs
With the current laws on the books, claims against the NYPD are expected to jump from $740 million annually to $850 million. If the new racial profiling bill passes the City Council on Thursday, those claims could rise even higher, as New Yorkers can sue the city if they feel they are profiled.
8/21/2013
Updated: 7/18/2015
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