Debate grows over secrecy in disciplining of N.Y. police
NEW YORK — Each day in a drab set of courtrooms, anybody can sit and watch New York City police officers face administrative trials accusing them of misconduct ranging from disobeying orders to aggressive arrests resulting in a suspect’s death.
But most outcomes of such trials — whether an officer is reprimanded, docked pay or put on probation — are not disclosed.
The secrecy is the result of a state law protecting the privacy of officer disciplinary records, and a recent city decision to adhere to the confidentiality rules more closely — a move that puts America’s largest police force at odds with a national movement to make law enforcement more transparent to the public.
“It’s striking to have a system where the hearings are open and the decisions are secret, but that’s exactly what we have at the NYPD,” said Christopher Dunn, associate legal director at the New York Civil Liberties Union, who has fought for full disclosure of the penalties.
Concerns over transparency of the NYPD’s disciplinary system took hold in recent months after the city appealed a decision by a state court judge ordering the release of the records of Daniel Pantaleo, the officer accused of putting Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold in 2014. A grand jury declined to indict the officer on criminal charges, but he’s still the subject of an administrative case that could end his police career.
Around the time the city filed its appeal, the NYPD stopped providing the outcomes of administrative proceedings to the media, which it had done for decades. Department lawyers justified both moves by saying they needed stricter compliance with a state law meant to protect the privacy of police officers, jail guards and firefighters — a position strongly backed by police unions.
In response to an outcry by politicians and police reform advocates, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city had to follow the law, but also said he’d favor changes that would allow more openness. In high-profile cases such as fatal shootings, police officials regu- larly name officers accused of wrongdoing, announce if they have been placed on desk duty or suspended pending the outcome of criminal or administrative charges, and confirm if they’ve been fired — a practice that’s not expected to change. What’s not available is records of punishment for misbehavior in an officer’s past.
Proceedings in the “trial room” at NYPD headquarters are open, but attendance isn’t encouraged. The department doesn’t publicly release trial calendars, making them available only to reporters if they ask for them at police headquarters.
A police oversight panel that handles some cases, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, posts a calendar of its cases on its website. But the list doesn’t name the officers.