NYPD force complaints up under Adams administration, report finds

Complaints alleging improper force used by the NYPD have gone up under the Adams administration, a new comptroller report finds.Graph from the comptroller’s office via mayor’s management report

By Ryan Schwach

Allegations against NYPD officers for excessive and unnecessary force have increased significantly in the last two years under Mayor Eric Adams, a new report from the comptroller’s office finds.

According to the report, released on Monday by Comptroller Brad Lander, incidents of excessive or unnecessary use of force investigated and closed by the city’s NYPD watchdog jumped 49 percent between 2022 and 2023, bringing the total to the highest it's been in over a decade.

“Our goal must be to prevent misconduct before it happens – rather than leaving communities to pay the price in harm, trauma and costly settlements after the fact,” Lander said in a statement.

Prior to the spike, complaints submitted to the Civilian Complaint Review Board had been decreasing since 2006. However, the number of complaints shot up from 3,700 in 2022 to 5,500 in 2023, then increased again to 5,600 in 2024.

The increase was driven in part by a rise in allegations of excessive or unnecessary force, the report states.

Lander’s report also found that more than 85 percent of residents in the four precincts with more than 100 recent force complaints to the CCRB were Black or Hispanic, and each of the top 10 precincts with the most total force complaints have populations that are majority Black or Hispanic.

In Queens, the 103rd Precinct, which covers the greater Jamaica area, and the 114th Precinct, which covers Astoria, had the highest number of complaints between 2022 and 2024 in the borough, but are not among the highest in the city.

The 108th Precinct, which covers Long Island City, Sunnyside and Woodside, had the second-highest rise in force complaints in the city, according to the report.

Between 2019 to 2021, there was an average of 2.7 force complaints in the precinct, and from 2022 to 2024, the precinct averaged 7.3 complaints, a 175 percent increase. The increase was second only to the 45th Precinct in the Bronx.

The NYPD has made strides however, Lander said

“While the NYPD has taken meaningful steps to strengthen accountability under Commissioner [Jessica] Tisch, including higher rates of discipline in substantiated CCRB cases, this report makes clear that serious gaps remain – and that discipline alone is not enough,” he said.

The report recommends the NYPD strengthen its Early Intervention System, which flags officers for non-disciplinary interventions based on complaints.

“The NYPD’s early intervention system is a good start, but this data shows it doesn’t go far enough to root out misconduct,” Lander said, calling for a more “data driven,” approach, which includes targeting specific precincts with a history of issues with more specific training.

“We need to move beyond reacting after the fact toward real culture change and prevention – through better use of data, stronger training and supervision in the precincts where use of excessive force persists,” he added.

In response to the report, the NYPD argued it has taken “monumental steps,” to increase compliance, and argued that the CCRB’s rate of substantiating complaints remains low.

In 2024, the CCRB only substantiated five percent of force complaints toward officers, the department said.

“Ensuring compliance and preventing excessive force are fundamental to the NYPD’s mission,” said an NYPD spokesperson.

The Adams administration strongly refuted the report, saying it was filled with inaccuracies and lacked context.

City Hall Spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus said that the increase in complaints can be attributed to an expansion of the CCRB’s jurisdiction in October 2022, and an increase in policing in general which she said would naturally lead to an increase in police interactions and complaints.

“This report is deeply flawed and riddled with inaccuracies, typos, and incorrect data, all of which could have been avoided if Brad Lander had actually done his job and picked up the phone to call the NYPD to learn more about how policing works,” she said in a statement. “Mayor Adams has dedicated his life to public safety, justice, and police reform — and as mayor, he has continued that legacy through real, meaningful change.”