A New York Metropolis Division of Investigation (DOI) probe has discovered {that a} single NYPD officer violated metropolis restrictions on aiding with federal civil immigration enforcement by putting automated alerts on people sought by immigration authorities, based on a report launched Wednesday.
Whereas the broader NYPD usually complies with native sanctuary legal guidelines, the DOI report discovered a number of gaps that depart the division susceptible to improper data sharing.
The 90-page evaluation, issued by DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber, examined 5 incidents involving potential NYPD involvement in civil immigration enforcement, the newest of which occurred in June. Strauber mentioned the evaluation underscores “the complexities and challenges that NYPD faces in the current environment,” as federal requests more and more blur the road between legal and civil immigration enforcement.
The investigation adopted a June 9 referral from Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Oversight and Investigations Chair Gale Brewer, after media experiences raised questions on whether or not the NYPD was totally honoring metropolis restrictions.
Of the 5 incidents reviewed, DOI discovered a single clear violation.
On Nov. 21, 2024, an NYPD officer assigned to a Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI) violent gang process drive positioned automated alerts on people searched for potential civil immigration enforcement, permitting notifications in the event that they appeared in NYPD methods. DOI decided this violated each division coverage and metropolis legislation.
The NYPD eliminated the officer from the duty drive, restricted his pc entry, and opened a disciplinary case. DOI discovered no proof the alerts resulted in any additional NYPD motion.
A legislation enforcement supply advised New York News that the division was unaware of the alerts till the DOI raised the problem, and that no identified ICE arrests resulted from the officer’s actions.
NYPD working ‘diligently’ to obey sanctuary metropolis legal guidelines
The report concluded that the NYPD has labored “diligently” to align its insurance policies with metropolis legal guidelines and strengthened its procedures by way of 2025 reforms, however it doesn’t totally adjust to its documentation and reporting obligations underneath Native Regulation 228, which requires detailed logging of help requests involving civil immigration enforcement.
The company additionally discovered the NYPD nonetheless lacks a written coverage on federal entry to NYPD property, as required underneath Native Regulation 246.
DOI issued seven suggestions to enhance documentation, strengthen coaching, consolidate overlapping insurance policies, and guarantee clearer procedures — all of which the NYPD accepted.
An NYPD spokesperson mentioned the report confirms the division “has worked diligently to comply with New York’s sanctuary city laws” and famous that each one seven suggestions have been accepted.
“We appreciate DOI’s comprehensive report and have accepted all its recommendations to make our policies even stronger,” NYPD spokesperson Brad Weekes mentioned.
Speaker Adams and Council Member Brewer, who requested the investigation, mentioned the incident of a person officer violating sanctuary legislation and the opposite reviewed circumstances within the report “are deeply troubling.”
“It’s critical that any agency staff who violate city laws are held accountable to send a clear message that those actions are unacceptable. The NYPD must also apply greater scrutiny to federal requests, so it is not complicit in facilitating the Trump administration’s extrajudicial practices,” Adams and Brewer mentioned in a joint assertion.
Different circumstances examined
The DOI additionally examined the February 2025 switch of 19-year-old Merwil Gutiérrez Flores from NYPD custody to the FBI. He had been arrested on a firearm cost, and the Bronx district legal professional declined to prosecute.
FBI personnel advised the NYPD that federal prosecutors have been contemplating legal fees. DOI concluded the switch, which was adopted by Gutiérrez Flores’s handover to immigration authorities, didn’t violate metropolis legislation, however beneficial a extra thorough inner evaluation of federal custody transfers to stop inadvertent civil immigration detention.
The New York Instances reported that Gutiérrez, initially from Venezuela, was despatched to El Salvador’s CECOT mega jail in March alongside 238 different migrants after months in ICE detention. He was later freed together with greater than 250 Venezuelan detainees as a part of a prisoner swap between the USA and Venezuela in July.
One other reviewed incident concerned a March 2025 request by federal brokers for details about a previous arrest of Palestinian lady Leqaa Kordia. The 32-year-old, based mostly in New Jersey, had been arrested by the NYPD throughout Columbia College protests in spring 2024 and later launched.
The next yr, HSI advised the NYPD it was conducting a money-laundering investigation, and the NYPD supplied sealed arrest data, which was later utilized in civil immigration proceedings. In accordance with Amnesty Worldwide, she is presently in ICE custody in Texas. DOI decided the disclosure didn’t violate metropolis legal guidelines or insurance policies as a result of the request was introduced as a part of a legal investigation, although the NYPD has since tightened its evaluation course of.
Investigators additionally reviewed a deliberate NYPD warrant operation on the Row and Roosevelt resorts in early March 2025. DOI discovered no proof of improper coordination with HSI, which individually deliberate to execute illegal-entry and unlawful re-entry warrants on the identical areas. NYPD supervisors canceled the operation as soon as they discovered of HSI’s plans to keep away from participation in conduct prohibited by native legislation.
In a June 2025 incident, NYPD officers briefly detained a person who had escaped from federal immigration custody after federal brokers requested officers to carry the particular person whereas they retrieved autos left behind throughout a foot pursuit. DOI mentioned the detention “arguably” violated NYPD coverage barring help with civil immigration enforcement however famous the officers acted moderately as a result of escape from federal custody is a criminal offense.
Strauber mentioned the suggestions intention to strengthen uniform procedures and scale back the chance of improper data sharing or help.
Cops say they’re avoiding worse confrontations with ICE
The NYPD pointed to sections of the report it considers vital, together with DOI’s discovering that division management complied with native legislation by halting the deliberate Row and Roosevelt resort operation as soon as it grew to become clear that federal brokers supposed to conduct immigration-related arrests. A spokesperson mentioned the instance exhibits police management is “vigilant” in stopping the division from changing into entangled in civil immigration enforcement.
The incidents highlighted within the report predate the latest enhance in immigration-related crackdowns in New York Metropolis and elsewhere.
Mayhem erupted outdoors of a Chinatown parking storage on Saturday after protesters discovered of a large ICE presence inside.Picture by Dean Moses
Murad Awawdeh, govt director of the New York Immigration Coalition, accused police on Sunday of brutalizing protesters in the course of the Nov. 29 demonstration. Native lawmakers echoed these issues, calling on Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Manhattan District Lawyer Alvin Bragg to drop fees in opposition to as much as 19 protesters arrested in the course of the conflict.
Metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander added that he believed officers could have violated native legal guidelines by clearing a path for federal brokers as they tried to go away the world.
A legislation enforcement supply mentioned the division views its presence at such scenes as essential to stop federal brokers and protesters from escalating confrontations.
The supply mentioned NYPD officers are constrained by legal guidelines barring them from interfering with federal operations, and argued that with out native police current, standoffs between ICE and civilians may result in “far worse outcomes,” together with potential Nationwide Guard involvement as seen in Los Angeles earlier this yr.
The supply mentioned the division’s main function in these incidents is to “keep the peace,” whilst feelings run excessive.
