Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NYC investigation flags sanctuary law breach by NYPD officer, calling for reforms
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Dec 3, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Dec 3, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A review by New York City's Department of Investigation found an NYPD officer violated the city's sanctuary laws by setting up a system where he would be notified if people federal immigration authorities were looking for interacted with the police department.
The investigation also identified gaps in the NYPD’s current policies that could lead to improper information-sharing with federal immigration authorities. It listed seven recommendations to strengthen the department’s adherence to sanctuary laws.
As part of the investigation, DOI reviewed five incidents from November 2024 through June 2025 where the NYPD interacted with federal law enforcement. Of the five cases, investigators found one instance where an officer assigned to a task force with agents from federal Homeland Security Investigations violated the city's sanctuary laws. The report notes there may be other instances that are not known.
The city's sanctuary laws prohibit the use of city resources for immigration enforcement. The report comes as the NYPD faces unprecedented pressure to remain independent from President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, while maintaining partnerships with federal law enforcement for criminal investigations. The report concluded the NYPD has been “working diligently” to ensure officers don’t violate the laws, but noted the department’s policies could still be improved.
“DOI’s investigation of NYPD’s compliance in five separate incidents demonstrates the complexities and challenges that NYPD faces in the current environment,” DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said in a statement.
“As the report demonstrates, the NYPD has worked diligently to comply with New York’s sanctuary city laws," NYPD spokesperson Brad Weekes said in a statement, adding the department has accepted all the recommendations from the report.
In the November 2024 incident, Homeland Security Investigations agents asked an NYPD officer assigned to a gang task force to “put out alerts” on a list of people suspected of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, according to the report.
The officer agreed to do so and created an alert in an NYPD database so he would receive an email if any of the listed people interacted with the police department, according to the report. The action violated the city's sanctuary laws because the people were potentially subject to civil immigration enforcement, the report states.
NYPD officials were not aware of the instance until DOI conducted its investigation, according to the report. The officer has since been removed from his post on the task force and his access to the computer system he used to create the alert has been restricted, the report notes.
No NYPD officers took action as a result of the email alerts, the report found.
In the four other incidents reviewed by DOI, investigators found the NYPD complied with the law that restricts cooperation with civil immigration enforcement.
The other incidents included a well-publicized incident where police shared the sealed arrest records of a New Jersey resident who was active in campus protests at Columbia University.
After press reports about the case, the NYPD acknowledged it should not have shared the information because the records were sealed, but DOI concluded this did not violate sanctuary laws because they were shared as part of a criminal investigation.
DOI also reviewed a sweep NYPD officials planned for two hotels in the city that were used to house migrants. When the department learned Homeland Security Investigations was also planning to sweep the hotels as part of a civil immigration enforcement, top department officials called off the action because it would have violated sanctuary laws, according to the report.
"The incident of an individual officer violating sanctuary law and the other reviewed cases in this report are deeply troubling," City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Councilmember Gale Brewer said in a joint statement. "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."
The report’s seven recommendations to strengthen the NYPD's adherence to sanctuary city laws include conducting an email audit of officers assigned to task forces with federal agents and providing additional guidance on how officers should assess whether a request they receive would actually aid civil immigration enforcement.
The recommendations also note a variety of federal agencies are now participating in civil immigration enforcement. Because of that, investigators recommended the NYPD amend its policies to scrutinize all instances where they turn someone over to federal authorities.
Tagged
Politics
immigration
new york city
public safety
Ben Feuerherd
Ben Feuerherd covers public safety and policing for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered federal courts for The New York Post and The Messenger. His work has also appeared in POLITICO, the Daily Beast and NBC New York. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .