Comptroller Stringer and NYPD Announce New Level of Transparency for NYPD Contracts

(New York, NY) — New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer and the New York City Police Department today announced that contract information for the vast majority of NYPD contracts are publicly available and accessible. Through Checkbook NYC – an award-winning, first-of-its-kind transparency tool that provides near real-time data on the budget, revenue, spending, contracts and payroll of New York City agencies — New Yorkers will now be able to see and understand how the NYPD spends its dollars with outside vendors and contractors.

Since Checkbook was launched in 2010, most City agencies have had contract and vendor details associated with their spending displayed in Checkbook. While details of NYPD spending were previously omitted from Checkbook, last year Comptroller Stringer and Commissioner O’Neill reached a joint agreement to publicly display the agency’s procurement information. Most NYPD spending information since Checkbook’s launch in 2010 is now publicly available, and going forward, the Comptroller’s Office will upload NYPD spending and contract data from the City’s Financial Management System (FMS) in real-time, just like the other City agencies. Only in rare cases in which security considerations exist will they be omitted.

Since Comptroller Stringer and the NYPD came to an agreement last year, Checkbook now contains new information on contracts since 2010, including:

• 7,857 active NYPD contracts since January 1, 2010
• $2,433,171,527  in total value of active NYPD contracts since January 1, 2010
• $42,475,576,390 in NYPD spending since January 1, 2010
• 4,912 NYPD vendors

“Sunlight matters – and this is an important step for transparency for our city. An accessible government is a responsive government, and the more open we are about our spending, the more efficient we’ll be,” said New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer. “I want to thank Commissioner O’Neill and the NYPD for working with us on this issue and making this a reality. This a victory for transparency and accountability.”

“It is important that the people of New York City understand how all public agencies are spending their money on contract services and vendors.  The NYPD often engages the services of outside contractors to assist in the many projects and programs that are needed to help further our primary mission to keep New York City safe,” said Police Commissioner James O’Neill.  “We have worked closely with the Office of the New York City Comptroller in finding a way to disclose this information on an on-going basis without unnecessarily impacting security and confidentiality issues.”

Today’s announcement, follows a previous update to Checkbook NYC launched last year, designed to enhance the platform, which for the first time ever detailed sub-vendor spending. That update provided a new level of insight into how sub-vendors are used by City contractors.

To view Checkbook NYC, visit www.CheckBookNYC.com.

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