Picture the Homeless v. City of New York (Challenging NYPD’s singling out of the homeless)

This case concerns the NYPD’s selective enforcement of the law against the homeless. In November 2002, the NYCLU filed suit in the Southern District alleging that the NYPD had initiated a program through its Homeless Outreach Unit of targeting and singling out the homeless for arrest. Immediately upon the filing of the suit, the City informed us it wished to settle the case. Under the court-ordered settlement, reached in March 2003, the City must maintain written NYPD policies that strictly forbid selective enforcement of the law against the homeless. The written policies were read at 10 consecutive daily roll-calls of the Homeless Outreach Unit and each member of the unit was required to sign as having received a copy of the new policy. In addition, under the settlement, the NYPD distributed the new policy to the thousands of members of the Department’s Transit Bureau, which is responsible for policing the subways. 

S.D.N.Y., Index No. 02 Civ. 9379 (SHS) (direct) 

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