• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Featured
    • New PT standard for future officers draws objections
      Law enforcement investigates death threats against California...
      K-9 lifesaver
      Cop Hobbies: Geocaching
      From cop to dad
  • Topics
    • On the Job
      • Heroic officer rescues homeowner and pet from house fire
        The gatekeepers of school safety
        Reality bites
        Over two decades of catching online predators
        Party bus bust
    • Labor
      • Union says “many” U.S. Capitol Police officers want to leave the...
        NYPD disciplinary records made public
        Raising the bar
        Retirements up, recruiting down
        Maryland considers repealing officers’ bill of rights
    • Tech
      • Data-driven investigations
        Police technology: Why so far behind?
        Charlotte-Mecklenburg police use key technology to battle crime wave
        Denver police gun detection technology pays off
        Reliable sources
    • Training
      • New PT standard for future officers draws objections
        LPVO: The Goldilocks of AR optics
        Chicago PD introduces real-life situation training
        Reset in recoil: Working with your gun, not against it
        K-9 lifesaver
    • Policy
      • Minneapolis decides to “refund” police following crime increase
        NYPD disciplinary records made public
        Pennsylvania top court decides on warrantless vehicle searches
        Biden executive order bans police access to high-tech military...
        Can you police without a department?
    • Health/Wellness
      • Capitol riot suicides shine light on police mental health struggles
        So much for those New Year’s resolutions, eh?
        Save jobs and lives
        Everyday work trauma and your brain
        Getting some shut-eye
    • Community
      • When parents are arrested, what about the kids?
        Law enforcement investigates death threats against California...
        African American law enforcement leaders pass historic milestone
        Life-changing gifts
        Honoring Nashville’s heroes
    • Humor
      • The force is strong with this one
        Dude, where’s my car?
        Dressed to impress
        How to retire angry
        Ousted police chief makes his departure brief — literally
    • We Remember
      • Slain Capitol Police officer honored
        A thread of courage and love
        COVID-19 “very likely” to kill more cops than 9/11
        Always honored, never forgotten
        More space needed at National Memorial
  • On the Job
    • Heroic officer rescues homeowner and pet from house fire
      The gatekeepers of school safety
      Reality bites
      Over two decades of catching online predators
      Party bus bust
  • Labor
    • Union says “many” U.S. Capitol Police officers want to leave the...
      NYPD disciplinary records made public
      Raising the bar
      Retirements up, recruiting down
      Maryland considers repealing officers’ bill of rights
  • Tech
    • Data-driven investigations
      Police technology: Why so far behind?
      Charlotte-Mecklenburg police use key technology to battle crime wave
      Denver police gun detection technology pays off
      Reliable sources
  • Training
    • New PT standard for future officers draws objections
      LPVO: The Goldilocks of AR optics
      Chicago PD introduces real-life situation training
      Reset in recoil: Working with your gun, not against it
      K-9 lifesaver
  • Policy
    • Minneapolis decides to “refund” police following crime increase
      NYPD disciplinary records made public
      Pennsylvania top court decides on warrantless vehicle searches
      Biden executive order bans police access to high-tech military...
      Can you police without a department?
  • Health/Wellness
    • Capitol riot suicides shine light on police mental health struggles
      So much for those New Year’s resolutions, eh?
      Save jobs and lives
      Everyday work trauma and your brain
      Getting some shut-eye
  • Community
    • When parents are arrested, what about the kids?
      Law enforcement investigates death threats against California...
      African American law enforcement leaders pass historic milestone
      Life-changing gifts
      Honoring Nashville’s heroes
  • Humor
    • The force is strong with this one
      Dude, where’s my car?
      Dressed to impress
      How to retire angry
      Ousted police chief makes his departure brief — literally
  • We Remember
    • Slain Capitol Police officer honored
      A thread of courage and love
      COVID-19 “very likely” to kill more cops than 9/11
      Always honored, never forgotten
      More space needed at National Memorial
  • Jobs and Careers
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Search

Labor

NYPD disciplinary records made public

Federal appeals court upholds release of thousands of police disciplinary files

Published February 19, 2021 @ 6:08 pm PST

iStock.com/tillsonburg

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday to uphold a state law allowing the public release of New York City Police Department officer disciplinary records. The decision represents a major win for criminal justice reform advocates and a crushing blow for police unions that opposed public access to records.

The law in question is Senate Bill S8496, a police reform law passed last June that repeals 50-a, a law used by police departments to protect personnel records of officers. Since its passage, unions representing the NYPD, the New York City Fire Department and the New York City Department of Correction have blocked its implementation, engaging the city in a contentious legal battle. According to reporting from the New York Daily News, the unions argued that making the records public would harm future job opportunities for public safety personnel and put their safety at risk. They also argued that the release of files constituted an invasion of privacy and violated the officers’ collective bargaining rights, Gothamist reports.

A three-judge panel in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the union arguments and upheld a lower court ruling allowing the release of disciplinary files.

“Despite evidence that numerous other States make similar records available to the public, the Unions have pointed to no evidence from any jurisdiction that the availability of such records resulted in harm to employment opportunities,” the court wrote in a 20-page decision. “We fully and unequivocally respect the dangers and risks police officers face every day. But we cannot say that the District Court abused its discretion when it determined that the Unions have not sufficiently demonstrated that those dangers and risks are likely to increase because of the City’s planned disclosures.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio was pleased with the decision, writing in a statement, “Good riddance to 50-A. We look forward to releasing this data and will seek clarity from the court regarding when these records can be released.” In June in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, de Blasio promised his constituents that his administration would publish NYPD disciplinary records in a public database.

According to Hank Sheinkopf, a spokesperson for the unions, the unions are reviewing their options for appeals. He noted that they would be continuing the legal fight by focusing on privacy protections associated with the state’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), per the New York Daily News.

“Today’s ruling does not end our fight to protect our members’ safety and due process rights,” Sheinkopf said in a statement. “The FOIL law provides exemptions that allow public employers to protect employees’ safety and privacy. We will continue to fight to ensure that New York City applies those exemptions to our members fairly and consistently, as they do for other public employees. Politics must not be allowed to relegate firefighters, police officers and corrections officers to second-class status.”

Categories: Labor, Policy

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • Union says “many” U.S. Capitol Police officers want to leave the agency
  • When parents are arrested, what about the kids?
  • Heroic officer rescues homeowner and pet from house fire
  • New PT standard for future officers draws objections
  • Law enforcement investigates death threats against California Governor Newsom
  • African American law enforcement leaders pass historic milestone
  • The gatekeepers of school safety
  • Capitol riot suicides shine light on police mental health struggles
  • Minneapolis decides to “refund” police following crime increase
  • Reality bites
Advertise with APB

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Categories

  • Featured
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Humor
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers

Editor’s Picks

Ass-kissing, favoritism, oh my!

Ass-kissing, favoritism, oh my!

January 28, 2021

This K-9 is a gym rat at heart!

This K-9 is a gym rat at heart!

January 25, 2021

A thread of courage and love

A thread of courage and love

January 20, 2021

The job doesn’t love you back

The job doesn’t love you back

December 28, 2020

Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2021 American Police Beat, Inc. | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close
Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.