NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – More than 300,000 police misconduct records are now available for the public to see after a temporary restraining order on fully disclosing the records was lifted by a judge—and the New York Civil Liberties Union says this could be the start of a new era of transparency from city law enforcement.
“By knowing this information, it will allow New Yorkers to have a new relationship with the police and, if they want to, to transform the systems of accountability,” said Molly Biklen, deputy legal director of the NYCLU.
A federal judge lifted the temporary restraining order on the records Friday after unions representing law enforcement fought to keep the disciplinary records private, saying that making them public could threaten the safety of law enforcement.
“The unions could not point to any incidents of harm,” Biklen said.
The release of the records comes more than two months after the Police Secrecy Law 50-a was repealed.
“I think it’s a really important moment for New York to be able to have this transparency. This is what, you know, people who were marching in the streets, who were advocating with their legislatures, wanted with the respect to the repeal of 50-a,” Biklen said.
The records, which date back to the mid-1980s, show that over 20,000 complaints have been substantiated but that only about 8,000 led to an NYPD penalty.
“There’s a real mismatch there. And I think this transparency is going to give great insight into the accountability or lack of accountability by the police,” Biklen said.