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NYPD Watchdog Releases Long-Awaited Database On Police Misconduct
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Mar 4, 2021
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Peter Foley/EPA/Shutterstock
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Mar 4, 2021
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New York City’s police oversight agency has released its first public database of NYPD disciplinary records, following an order from a federal appeals court which cleared the way for broad disclosures on police misconduct.
That searchable database covers tens of thousands of finalized misconduct complaints against officers by the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the agency's ruling on those cases, and the penalty that was ultimately imposed by the NYPD. It does not include records that fall under the NYPD’s own internal disciplinary process, such as complaints involving corruption, perjury, and off-duty criminal conduct.
For decades, information on police misconduct and discipline has been shielded from the public’s view under a controversial state statute known as 50-a. The state legislature repealed that statute this past June, amid historic racial justice protests sparked by the policing killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
A contentious legal battle followed, as the city’s police unions argued that the release of the records could jeopardize officers’ safety and violate their collective bargaining rights. The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the unions last month, then reaffirmed the decision in an order on Wednesday that said the city was free to begin releasing the records.
The newly-released CCRB data includes information on 34,811 active officers and 48,218 inactive officers that can be sorted by command, rank, and type of complaint. More detailed information about the alleged misconduct — referred to as "complaint histories" — is not part of the database, but can obtained through Freedom of Information Law Requests, according to a press release.
If you have information about a case or an officer in the database, email [email protected]
On Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that a broader release of internal NYPD data will begin next week, though he did not give specifics on what would be included in that disclosure.
“Whatever legal roadblocks the city was pointing to are no longer in place to stop them from releasing these documents that the public has demanded since the repeal of 50-a,” Molly Biklen, the deputy legal director for the New York Civil Liberties Union, told Gothamist. “There are no more excuses.”
Though his administration oversaw an expansion of 50-a, de Blasio has praised the court's ruling, and previously vowed to undertake a “massive effort” to make public “all records for every active member available in one place, online publicly.”
But the extent and timing of the city’s full release remains unclear, and policing experts say they’re skeptical that the department will be immediately forthcoming with all internal records.
In a statement, Manny Vaz, a spokesperson for Communities United for Police Reform, called on the de Blasio administration to “immediately publish the police misconduct databases that they claimed would be ready last summer, and to stop blocking FOIL requests on police violence so that New Yorkers can finally have some measure of transparency.”
Previously, 50-a was used to block a wide variety of documents, ranging from the identities of police officers involved in shootings to transcripts of disciplinary hearings otherwise available under the state’s Open Meetings law.
The law has also been used to block personnel records of firefighters and corrections officers. Inquiries to the agencies about the release were not immediately returned.
Hank Sheinkopf, a spokesperson for the coalition of unions that sued to block the release of the records, provided no specific indication whether or not they plan to take further legal action.
“We’re considering our options,” Sheinkopf told Gothamist.
Tagged
nypd
police brutality
CCRB
50-a
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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