NYCLU v. NYPD

The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a second lawsuit against the NYPD for unlawfully withholding records related to the Adams administration’s policy of forcibly hospitalizing people with perceived mental illness – even when they pose no imminent harm.

In March 2023, following the NYPD’s denial of the NYCLU’s 2022 Freedom of Information Law request (FOIL), the NYCLU filed a lawsuit seeking the policies, procedures and trainings related to the Mayor’s November 2022 policy on involuntary detentions. Almost immediately after the lawsuit was filed, the NYPD made available the requested materials. The NYPD has since claimed it updated its policies, procedures and trainings.

In December 2023, the NYCLU filed another FOIL request, requesting updated information, including the numbers of people voluntarily or involuntarily transported by the NYPD for psychiatric evaluation, disaggregated by race. Claiming it is still searching for records responsive to the NYCLU’s December 2023 request, the NYPD has refused to respond to the NYCLU’s request for more than fifteen months, prompting the NYCLU’s new lawsuit.