Tisch touts NYPD gang database as NYC council considers shutting it down

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch took several shots at efforts in the City Council to abolish the police’s controversial “Criminal Group Database” Tuesday. Tisch’s remarks came during a press conference about the indictment of 16 people allegedly involved in gang-related shootings. Also present at the announcement were Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Mayor Eric Adams.

The database, often referred to as the “gang database,” centralizes intelligence regarding criminal groups and street gangs. It includes geographic data, associated incidents, alleged members, photographs, gang dynamics and other information. 

Critics of the database argue it is overtly discriminatory, as 99% of the people entered are Black or Hispanic according to a 2023 report from the city Department of Investigation’s Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD. Transparency is also a sticking point, as unless one is under the age of 18, they are not notified if they are added to the database and have no recourse to challenge the label. As of now, 507 gangs and crews are actively identified and 13,304 alleged members are a part of the database, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

The criteria to get on the database involves either self-reporting to a police officer or social media analysis conducted by the NYPD. The latter must go through a review process before approval, but critics say people can be added arbitrarily.

“It's as easy as living in a certain neighborhood, you dress a certain way, you have certain friends,” said Legal Aid Society policy attorney Cassandra Kelly. “You grow up in NYCHA housing, you wish someone a happy birthday, a school safety officer can even be a verified source for the NYPD to add you to a gang database. It’s very vague.”

A City Council bill, introduced by Bronx City Council Member Althea Stevens, aims to abolish the database and prohibit the establishment of any replacement. If passed, city employees would not have access to the database for law enforcement purposes and its records would eventually be erased. The bill has had a hearing in the Committee on Public Safety, but the committee hasn’t voted on it. 

The police commissioner excoriated the proposed legislation, crediting the database for helping the NYPD in their efforts to go after the alleged 16 indicted members. Bragg said the suspects are a part of the “LA World” and “Wuski” gangs.

“Detectives used one particular tool in this investigation that some in the City Council want to abolish,” Tisch said. “Calls to get rid of this tool are dangerous. They fly in the face of public safety.”

Stevens did not see eye to eye with Tisch.    

“It’s really disheartening at a time where the federal government is labelling people as gang members and sending them to El Salvador and elsewhere and the city is doing the same thing labelling them,” Stevens said. “People who never committed a crime are in danger and if there is an immigration status issue, they might get sent to El Salvador. It’s disheartening.”

After this story was published, a source familiar with the investigation told City & State that while the NYPD may have used the database in the investigation, prosecutors from the DA’s office did not use it.