A $75 million settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit alleging the New York City Police Department issued numerous criminal summonses as part of a policy “selectively and disproportionally enforced in minority communities.”

If you received a criminal court summons by an NYPD officer, and the summons was dismissed by the court for legal insufficiency and lacked probable cause between May 25, 2007 and Jan. 25, 2017, you may be entitled to a cash payment from the NYPD class action settlement.

The NYPD class action lawsuit was initially filed on May 25, 2010 on behalf of a Class of individuals who received criminal court summonses from members of the NYPD. The plaintiffs claimed that the City of New York’s police department had illegally stopped, seized, arrested and issued summonses to individuals without probable cause.

According to the NYPD class action lawsuit, these criminal court summonses were issued in response to a summons quota within the NYPD.

“To encourage and drive this unlawful pattern and practice, the NYPD consistently punishes officers who issue fewer summonses, and rewards police officers who issue more summonses, regardless of whether or not there is probable cause to issue such summonses,” the NYPD class action lawsuit states.







The defendants vigorously fought against the NYPD class action lawsuit and deny the allegations. However, they agreed to participate in settlement negotiations to avoid the risk of future litigation, trial and potential appeals. The NYPD class action settlement was reached in August 2016.

In addition to providing cash payments to eligible Class Members who file timely and valid claims, the defendants also agree to change its policies to prohibit any quota and/or numeric performance goals for enforcement activity. The defendants will also conduct a department-wide in-service training and send a department-wide email regarding the policies.