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Police And Fire Unions Sue To Block Disciplinary Records From The Public
By
David Cruz
Published Jul 16, 2020
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By
David Cruz
Published Jul 16, 2020
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Lawyers for New York's police, fire, and correction officer unions have sued the city in federal court to block the release of certain disciplinary records that were made public last month.
The lawsuit names the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which were both expected to unveil databases disclosing the disciplinary records of police officers this month. The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York, Uniformed Fire Officers Association, Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association of the City of New York, Sergeants Benevolent Association, Lieutenants Benevolent Association, Captains Endowment Association and the Detectives’ Endowment Association have all joined in the suit.
In June, the state legislature repealed New York Civil Rights Law section 50-A, which for decades allowed police departments and municipalities across the state to deny public access to disciplinary records.
Under the repeal, those records must be made public, though personal information like home addresses will be redacted. Law enforcement unions charged that the new law would release "unsubstantiated" complaints against officers, but state legislators countered that baseless or unsubstantiated allegations would be noted as such in the public record.
That same argument from law enforcement unions is the crux of this new lawsuit.
"This is not a challenge to disclosure of proven and final disciplinary matters--i.e., those that at least have been vetted through an evidence-based investigative and adjudicatory process that includes basic due process protections," the lawsuit states. "This is a challenge to protect members’ rights that will be violated when Respondents release these Unsubstantiated and Non-Final Allegations within days, in what amounts to a massive public data dump."
The lawsuit alleges that the data release would violate the unions' Collective Bargaining Agreements with the city, due process under the Constitution, and "unfairly stigmatize" the city's 60,000 law enforcement officers and firefighters.
“We are defending privacy, integrity and the unsullied reputations of thousands of hard-working public safety employees,” said Hank Sheinkopf, spokesman for We Are All New York, a newly formed union coalition, told PIX 11 News.
Soon after the repeal of 50-A, Mayor de Blasio announced that he would direct the NYPD to release a database in July containing information on all officers who have faced departmental charges for misconduct. The Mayor's Office said that the database will include an officer's name, the internal charges they faced, the hearing dates, transcripts from the hearings, and the final ruling of the department.
The CCRB, which has jurisdiction over complaints from the public about the NYPD that involve abuse of authority, discourtesy, excessive force or offensive language, and police lying, are also releasing a database. Their records will include an officer’s name, rank, precinct assignments, type of infraction, and the CCRB’s recommendation, if the CCRB came to one. All complaints against officers will be in the database, whether they are substantiated or not, but the data will not include incident reports, which describe the allegations in detail.
In a statement to Gothamist, CCRB chair Fran Davie maintained that the CCRB's database would comply with the letter and spirit of the 50-A repeal.
"The disclosure of CCRB records is an important part of that commitment, and is consistent with the spirit of the police reform movement and the letter of the law. We believe the City will prevail in its legal defense of police transparency," said Davie.
Responding to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for the City's Law Department said, "The repeal of 50-a brings fairness to the way disclosures are handled for city employees across the board. We believe the arguments have no merit and we’ll defend against the claims in federal court."
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David Cruz
David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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