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NYPD gang database shrank 40%, but coding errors kept thousands on it, report says
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 16, 2025
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Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 16, 2025
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The NYPD's controversial gang database has shrunk by nearly 40% over the past three years, but a new watchdog report says the department is still falling short on key reforms.
Watchdogs said they found programming errors that kept people in the system longer than allowed, improper entries by officers and a failure to notify parents when their children were added.
The NYPD has made substantial improvements, according to the city Department of Investigation, but “more needs to be done to ensure that the database functions as it is intended," Inspector General Jeanene Barrett said.
Police said their “criminal group database” helps solve major crimes and reduce shootings. While some lawmakers have proposed legislation to abolish it, they haven’t mustered enough votes for passage, let alone the the two-thirds majority needed to override a potential mayoral veto.
David Moss, a lawyer for the nonprofit Legal Defense Fund who is part of a coalition suing the city to end the database, said it leads to excessive stops.
“You have people who essentially every time they get in their car are pulled over,” he said. “You have people who are essentially being targeted for really invasive, improper police interrogations.”
The number of people listed in the database dropped from 13,989 people in June 2024 to 8,563 in October 2025 — a 39% decline, according to the report. Most of those listed are Black and Hispanic men between 18 and 34, the inspector general said.
Investigators found technical failures in the system, including coding errors that kept more than 5,800 people listed past the allowed timeframe. The NYPD said it discovered the coding errors on its own, reported them and has since fixed the issue. The department emphasized no one was mistakenly added to the database and it has new safeguards in place to prevent future problems.
The Department of Investigation also found patterns of officers adding names without proper verification, using "boilerplate language" about having "reasonable belief" of gang membership without specific details.
Although the NYPD adopted a new policy to notify parents within 60 days when minors are added to the tracker, the report found the department "failed to complete any notifications."
The agency defended the database Wednesday, calling it "an invaluable intelligence tool" that helps bring down shootings and violence.
"The database is critical to investigating and solving crimes, but also to preventing potential future shootings and violence," NYPD spokesperson Brad Weekes said. "Simply put: This tool helps the NYPD save lives."
Still, the department has acknowledged gang affiliations are becoming more fluid and harder to define.
Advocates pushing to abolish the database have called it a dragnet used to unjustly surveil non-white New Yorkers. They called the watchdog report “tinkering around the edges” and said they want the whole database abolished.
City Councilmember Althea Stevens of the Bronx, who authored the bill to eliminate the tracker, said the NYPD should spend less time tracking people and more on education and counseling.
”I think it's just such a misuse of resources in the NYPD to want to hold onto something like this,” she said.
Still, Stevens acknowledged she may not have the votes to pass her bill.
Criminal justice advocates have said the political calculus could shift if mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani, a critic of the database, wins the election in November. And if the City Council can’t pass a ban, they’re hoping a federal court will strike down the database as unconstitutional.
Tagged
new york city
nypd
public safety
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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