Pamela Wridt, robert sauve;

-against-

city of new york

Status: Filed October 27, 2025

Key issues: Policy Practices, Privacy, Bias

Court: United States District Court Southern District of New York

Docket: 1:25-cv-08903

Counsel: S.T.O.P. and Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP

Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP (ECBAWM) and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) filed a federal civil rights suit claiming that the New York City Police Department (NYPD)’s Domain Awareness System (DAS) unconstitutionally tracks New Yorkers. Formed through a public-private partnership with Microsoft, the DAS is an opaque surveillance command center that collects data from tens of thousands of camera feeds, license plate readers, radiological sensors, and other spyware for real-time, warrantless surveillance of New Yorkers across the city.

The lawsuit, which was brought on behalf of Brooklyn residents Pamela Wridt and Robert Sauve, claims that the NYPD’s ubiquitous surveillance violates New Yorkers’ First and Fourth Amendment rights. The lawsuit claims that the NYPD is effectively conducting a warrantless search of every New Yorker, including those never accused, let alone convicted, of a crime.