The New York City law of 2021
In 2021 New York City wrote its own civil right against unreasonable searches, seizures and excessive force by NYPD officers, and said in the statute that qualified immunity is not a defense to it. The claim runs against the officer and against the City as employer, needs no exhaustion of administrative remedies, carries attorney's fees, and has a three-year clock. It covers NYPD employees and special patrolmen and no one else. This page goes through Local Law 48 section by section, what it adds to a federal claim, and the one question about it we do not publish an answer to.
Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any change in the law.
Every other page on this site describes a federal claim with a defense that can end it. This page describes a local claim without that defense. Local Law 48 of 2021 is short, and it was written to answer the two problems that decide most cases against the NYPD: the officer's qualified immunity and the City's Monell shield. It removes the first by statute and the second by naming the employer as a defendant. It has limits, and the biggest is who it covers. The qualified immunity page explains the defense the law removes; this page explains the law.
How it was passed
The law began as Int. 2220-A in the City Council. The Council passed it on March 25, 2021. The Mayor returned it unsigned on April 26, 2021, and it became Local Law 48 of 2021, effective immediately and applying prospectively, to conduct after that date. It added a new Chapter 8, "Civil rights of security," to Title 8 of the Administrative Code, sections 8-801 through 8-807 (N.Y.C. Local Law 48 of 2021). An arrest or a use of force before late April 2021 is not covered; one after it is.
Section by section
§ 8-801: who is covered
The chapter defines a "covered individual" as an employee of the New York City Police Department or a special patrolman. That definition does the most work in the chapter, because it is the limit of the law. It reaches NYPD officers and civilian NYPD employees, and it reaches special patrolmen. It does not reach anyone else.
§ 8-802: the right
The chapter creates a civil right of security against unreasonable search and seizure and against excessive force. The words are chosen to track the Fourth Amendment, and § 8-807 says so expressly. An arrest without probable cause is an unreasonable seizure. A search without a warrant or an exception is an unreasonable search. Force that was more than the situation called for is excessive force. The federal pages on each claim, false arrest, unlawful search and excessive force, describe the same conduct.
§ 8-803: the claim, against the officer and the employer
A civil action lies against the covered individual and against the employer, in any court of competent jurisdiction. The section reaches a failure to intervene as well as the act itself, so an officer who stood by while another used unreasonable force is a defendant. And it says that "exhaustion of any administrative remedies is not required": a person does not have to file a CCRB complaint, or anything else, before suing. The failure to intervene page goes through that claim.
What "and the employer" changes
Under Section 1983 the City is liable only where its own policy or custom caused the violation (Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978)). Under § 8-803 the employer is a defendant on the claim itself, with no policy, custom or training failure to plead. That is the second thing the law removes. The Monell page explains what the federal route requires.
§ 8-804: no immunity defense
"It is not a defense to liability that a covered individual has qualified immunity or any other substantially equivalent immunity." That is the sentence the law is known for. A motion that would end the federal claim because no published case put the officer on notice does not end this one.
§ 8-805: damages and fees
A plaintiff who proves a violation may recover compensatory damages, and punitive damages in the court's discretion, or may elect statutory damages of $1,000 instead. Attorney's fees and costs are added to either. The $1,000 figure is a statutory damages election, not a cap and not a typical recovery; it exists for the case where the violation is clear and the measurable loss is not.
§ 8-806: three years
The limitation period is three years, "notwithstanding section 50-k of the general municipal law or any other provision of law." That matches the federal claim's three years in New York (CPLR 214(5)) and is far longer than the one year and 90 days for the state-law torts against the City.
§ 8-807: how it is read
The chapter is construed consistently with the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and with Article I, sections 6 and 12 of the New York Constitution. In practice that means the federal cases on probable cause, reasonable force and lawful searches supply the substantive standard; what the local law changes is the defense and the defendant, not the definition of the violation.
The law beside the federal claim
| N.Y.C. Admin. Code ch. 8 | 42 U.S.C. § 1983 | New York state-law torts | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can be sued | NYPD employee or special patrolman, and the employer | The officer; the City only through Monell | The officer and the City as employer |
| Qualified immunity | Not a defense (§ 8-804) | A defense (Harlow) | Not published here |
| Notice of claim | Not expressly required; question not published; we serve one | Not required (Felder v. Casey) | Required within 90 days (Gen. Mun. Law § 50-e) |
| Exhaustion | Not required (§ 8-803) | Not required outside prison conditions (42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a)) | The 50-h examination, if demanded |
| Limitation period | 3 years (§ 8-806) | 3 years (CPLR 214(5)) | 1 year and 90 days (§ 50-i) |
| Fees | Yes (§ 8-805) | Yes (42 U.S.C. § 1988(b)) | Not published here |
| Punitive damages | In the court's discretion (§ 8-805) | Against officers, never the City (City of Newport) | Not published here |
What the law does not cover
The chapter's reach is exactly the definition in § 8-801, and it is worth being precise about who falls outside it.
The Department of Correction. Correction officers on Rikers Island and in the other City jails are City employees, but they are not NYPD employees or special patrolmen. A person hurt in a City jail has a Section 1983 claim and a state-law claim through the notice of claim, not a claim under this chapter. The jail and prison abuse page goes through those claims.
Other municipalities. The law is a New York City local law. A Nassau County, Westchester or Yonkers officer is not covered. The New York page covers claims against other municipalities.
The State. State Troopers and DOCCS officers are state employees, not covered individuals, and the State itself cannot be sued for damages under Section 1983 at all (Will v. Michigan Dep't of State Police, 491 U.S. 58 (1989)). The state-law claim against the State goes to the Court of Claims.
Conduct before the effective date. The law applies prospectively from April 2021.
Federal officers. ICE, CBP and other federal agents are outside the chapter and outside Section 1983. The federal officers page covers them.
The question we do not publish an answer to
Whether a notice of claim under General Municipal Law § 50-e must be served before suing under § 8-803 is not answered on this site. The statute says exhaustion of administrative remedies is not required, sets its own three-year period "notwithstanding section 50-k of the general municipal law or any other provision of law," and says nothing else about pre-suit requirements. We have not found an appellate decision deciding whether that language displaces the notice of claim. We do not publish a guess. In every NYPD case we serve the notice of claim within 90 days, on the Comptroller, for every claim, so that the question does not arise in our cases. The notice of claim page explains what the notice is and where it goes.
The practical rule
Treat an NYPD case as if the 90-day notice applies to every claim in it. The City-law claim and the federal claim have three years; the state-law torts have 90 days to notice and one year and 90 days to sue. Serving the notice protects all of them and costs nothing. The deadline tool counts each clock from your date.
If a charge is pending
The City-law claim is about the same arrest or the same force as any criminal charge that came out of it. If a charge is pending, talk to your defense lawyer before describing the arrest to anyone; the criminal case and civil case page explains why the two cases are handled together.
Qualified immunity
The defense this law removes: "clearly established," the 2026 Supreme Court decisions, and what defeats it in federal court.
Qualified immunity →Failure to intervene
The officers who stood there. What the federal claim requires and what § 8-803 adds.
Failure to intervene →The 90-day notice of claim
What goes in it, where it goes, the 50-h examination, and why we serve one in every NYPD case.
Notice of claim →Common questions
Does the City law replace my Section 1983 claim?
No. It is a separate claim under local law that is brought alongside the federal one. The federal claim carries decades of precedent and fees under Section 1988; the City-law claim carries no immunity defense, the City as a defendant without a Monell showing, and its own fee provision. For an NYPD arrest or use of force since 2021, we plead both.
Does it cover correction officers at Rikers?
No. The law applies to a covered individual, defined as an employee of the New York City Police Department or a special patrolman. Department of Correction officers, officers of other cities and counties, State Troopers and state prison staff are not covered. Claims against them proceed under Section 1983 and state law.
Do I need a notice of claim for the City-law claim?
We do not publish an answer, because the statute is silent beyond saying that exhaustion of administrative remedies is not required, and we have not found an appellate decision on the question. We serve a notice of claim within 90 days in every NYPD case anyway, so the question never has to be answered in our cases.
What is the $1,000 election?
Section 8-805 lets a plaintiff who proves a violation elect statutory damages of $1,000 instead of proving compensatory damages, plus attorney's fees and costs. It is a statutory damages election, useful where a violation is clear but the measurable loss is small. A plaintiff with real injuries claims compensatory damages instead, and punitive damages are in the court's discretion.
Tell us what happened.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which claims the facts support, which deadline runs first for the agency involved, what evidence to preserve this week, and whether a pending criminal case changes the timing. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510If a criminal charge is still open, talk to your defense lawyer before you describe the arrest to anyone, including us. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language. Contingency fee, confirmed in writing before we begin.