Appeals Court to Hear Arguments in NYPD’s Effort to Conceal Disciplinary Decisions

The New York Civil Liberties Union will argue in front of the First Department Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court today that the NYPD cannot conceal ten years of judicial decisions relating to findings that police officers had abused New Yorkers. A lower court ordered release of the decisions, but the NYPD, relying on an overly broad interpretation of Civil Rights Law Section 50-a, appealed to stop the release. The NYCLU believes that the release of 10 years’ worth of judicial decisions from the NYPD oversight entity, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, will provide valuable information to the public about how the NYPD judges and analyzes claims of police mistreatment. This is especially important at a time when police departments across the country, including the NYPD, are under increased scrutiny for a lack of accountability. The oral arguments come two months after Mayor de Blasio’s administration outlined a list of principles for state legislation that would make disciplinary records of law enforcement officers, including those sought by the NYCLU, subject to disclosure. Yet the NYPD, under the control of the de Blasio administration, insists the judgements that the NYCLU wants to make public should remain hidden. The arguments also follow the administration’s sudden decision this summer to stop releasing disciplinary decisions of NYPD officers, reversing a practice the department followed for decades after 50-a was passed. “If the administration is serious about police accountability, it should have no problem releasing these decisions about police misconduct,” said NYCLU Associate Legal Director, Christopher Dunn. “Instead the NYPD is hiding behind a law the administration claims it wants to reform.” The NYCLU also argued in Manhattan Supreme Court in October against efforts by the corrections officers union to remove decades of Rikers Island guards’ disciplinary records from public view. The union, much like the NYPD, claims 50-a shields those records from disclosure. What: Oral arguments to force the NYPD to make ten years of NYPD judicial decisions public. NYCLU Associate Legal Director Christopher Dunn will argue the case. When: 2 p.m. today, Thursday, December 15 Where: 27 Madison Avenue in Manhattan