(The Center Square) — Negotiations between New York City and police officers over a settlement related to the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests have been reopened after the city’s largest police union objected to the terms of the agreement.
In a response to a request from the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon issued a decision on Friday vacating a previously issued order approving the settlement, and sent both sides back to the negotiating table.
McMahon said arguments from the New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Legal Aid Society to deny the motion “does not convince me that the union should not be allowed to oppose the settlement.”
The settlement, approved a week ago, sought to resolve lawsuits filed by Democratic Attorney General Letitia James, civil liberty groups and individuals who said police violated their rights during the 2020 demonstrations sparked by the killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd.
As part of negotiations on the settlement, the New York Police Department agreed to create a new oversight panel to review the actions of law enforcement officers at protests and implement changes in policing demonstrations that prioritize the First Amendment rights of demonstrators.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former New York police officer, had praised the settlement as a “collaborative process that seeks to build consensus, balance safety with justice, and protect protesters, bystanders, and law enforcement personnel.”
But the Police Benevolent Association objected to those terms. It said the proposed rules don’t reflect the reality of most public demonstrations and would endanger officers who respond to them.
“Nearly 400 NYPD members were injured during the summer 2020 protests, but there has been zero accountability for the agitators who used the protests as cover to assault police officers,” President Patrick Hendry said in his statement. “This settlement does not change that. If anything, it may serve to encourage future violence.”
The settlement came after New York City agreed in June to pay $13 million to more than 1,300 arrested in New York City during the 2020 demonstrations, who said they were subjected to the use of pepper spray, excessive force with batons and other tactics.
Under the agreement, each defendant will be eligible for $9,950 in compensation.
Backers of the New York City settlements say the compensation is justified, and suggest the fault lies with the city’s inability to control the New York Police Department and prevent police brutality against demonstrators.
Critics have called the settlement a “cash grab” that rewards demonstrators who engaged in criminal activity under the guise of peaceful protests.
McMahon has given lawyers until Sept. 29 to submit the union’s motion to disapprove the settlement.
