The Legal Aid Society has released a list of active New York City Police Department (NYPD) members of service who garnered the highest lawsuit payouts and who were defendants in the most civil rights lawsuits alleging police misconduct from 2013 to July 28, 2023, per City data.

Officer Pedro Rodriguez’s payout total tops $12 million, Sergeant Edwin Ching, Detective Ryan Bracconeri, Sergeant Jeffrey Griffin, and Detective Liam Swords each have payouts in excess of $8 million. Sergeant David Grieco tops the list of officers named in suits alleging police misconduct with 48 cases since 2013.

This analysis comes after a report released by Legal Aid earlier this month which revealed that the City paid out $50,523,914 million in lawsuits alleging police misconduct from January 1, 2023, to July 28, 2023. At this rate, payouts for the entirety of 2023 could balloon to roughly $100 million, and surpass payout amounts for calendar years 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Total payouts for police misconduct are likely to be substantially higher because these data do not account for matters that were settled with the New York City Comptroller’s office prior to formal litigation.

“Collectively, these active members of the NYPD have garnered hundreds of lawsuits, costing taxpayers millions of dollars in cases raising shocking allegations of misconduct, yet they are still allowed to wear a badge and carry a gun. It is also deeply concerning that many have attained ranks of sergeant or above,” said Jennvine Wong, an attorney with the Cop Accountability Project at The Legal Aid Society. “So long as NYPD leadership continues to allow problematic officers to rise through the ranks and refuses to address the Department’s culture of impunity, our clients – the majority of whom are from Black and Latinx communities – will continue to shoulder the consequences and the general public’s trust of the NYPD will remain fractured.”