May 1, 2025 Story by: Publisher
A coalition of five civil rights and legal organizations filed a putative class-action complaint today challenging the New York Police Department’s secret “Criminal Group Database,” more commonly called the Gang Database.
Attorneys from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF), The Legal Aid Society, The Bronx Defenders, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, and the law firm Ballard Spahr argue that the database “systematically targets, surveils, and criminalizes Black and Latino New Yorkers in violation of their constitutional rights”.
“The NYPD’s Gang Database is a tool of racist policing—plain and simple,” Rigodis Appling, staff attorney in the Special Litigation & Community Justice Unit at The Legal Aid Society said. “It has terrorized the Black and Latino communities we serve, branding our clients as criminals without any regard for the truth.”
The lawsuit, announced at a press conference at Brooklyn Movement Center, alleges that 99 percent of the roughly 13,300 individuals listed in the database are Black or Latino—and that mere inclusion can subject people to harassment, unwarranted stops, and enhanced criminal charges under “gang enhancement” statutes. Plaintiffs contend the NYPD’s practices violate the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments, by branding individuals as suspected gang “members” or “associates” without evidence or due process.
Legal Strategy & Relief Sought
Filed in U.S. District Court, the complaint seeks injunctive relief to abolish the database, purge existing entries, and require transparent, evidence-based criteria for any future listings. The suit further demands an independent audit of the NYPD’s gang-policing practices and a court-monitored plan to rebuild community trust.
“We believe in a New York where everyone … can engage in everyday activities without fear of police harassment,” Kevin Jason, Deputy Director of Strategic Initiatives at LDF said. “The only way to make that vision a reality is to end the Gang Database.”
NYPD and City Council Response
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has repeatedly defended the database as essential to combating violent crime, pointing to recent takedowns of the “LA World” and “Wuski” gangs in Harlem that relied on the tool. At an April 8 briefing, she warned City Council members that eliminating the database “would be dangerous” and “undermine critical investigations.”
Meanwhile, legislation under consideration in the City Council would outlaw the Gang Database outright, making today’s lawsuit a high-stakes test of competing visions for public safety and civil-rights protections in New York City.
Press Conference Details
Civil rights attorneys held a media briefing to announce the lawsuit. The event was hosted by LDF, The Legal Aid Society, The Bronx Defenders, and LatinoJustice PRLDEF at the Brooklyn Movement Center, 375 Stuyvesant Avenue, Brooklyn.
Sources: amNewYork / Legal Defense Fund
