Multistate settlement with LexisNexis nets $700,000 for LI police departments
New York Attorney General Letitia James presents a check to Nassau Couty Executive Laura Curran and Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder as the Nassau County Police Department receives part of the LexisNexis settlement on Monday in Mineola. Credit: Howard Schnapp
The Nassau and Suffolk police departments will together receive more than $700,000 to enhance their public safety programs through a multistate settlement with LexisNexis, State Attorney General Letitia James announced Monday.
The settlements resolve allegations that LexisNexis underpaid law enforcement in five states, including New York and New Jersey, more than $2.8 million, in connection with the purchase and resale of automobile crash reports.
New York’s share of the settlement is approximately $1.7 million, or about 30 percent of the total $5.8 million multistate settlement.
The Nassau and Suffolk police departments were the two largest settlement recipients in the state, receiving $385,256 and $340,514, respectively, James said at a news conference in Mineola. The funds can be used for any law enforcement purpose, she said.
“LexisNexis cheated our local law enforcement agencies and defrauded New Yorkers,” James said.
Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said the funds would be used for active shooter training or additional police equipment. "It will go for fighting crime and that's what it's important for Nassau County," Ryder said.
A Suffolk spokesman said the funds would be used to offset departmental expenses.
In total, 121 law enforcement agencies across the state will receive payments as part of the settlement, including police departments in Southampton, Freeport, Rockville Centre, Port Washington, Long Beach, Old Brookville, Floral Park and East Hampton.
LexisNexis and its affiliate companies, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, LexisNexis CopLogic Solutions and LexisNexis Claims Solutions, have contracts with law enforcement agencies in which they agree to pay certain fees in exchange for obtaining access to reports on automobile accidents. The companies later resell the reports to insurance companies and drivers for use in claims adjustments.
Prosecutors said LexisNexis defrauded law enforcement agencies by paying for only the first crash report sold, and not for each subsequent report that was resold, James said.
"We had a disagreement over the meaning of contract language regarding when certain payments were due to law enforcement agencies after crash reports were purchased and then resold," LexisNexis Risk Solutions said in a statement. "Although we disagreed with the interpretation of the contracts by the jurisdictions, ultimately we decided that rather than litigate, we would settle our disagreement in a way that benefited our law enforcement partners."
The investigation found that from June 2012 through May 2019, LexisNexis filled crash report requests by searching its database and — if it had previously sold the requested report to another customer — reselling the information without paying the agreed-upon fee for the new sale, officials said.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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