The light blue wall of silence

The NYPD is cracking the door open an inch on disciplinary outcomes in misconduct cases. Rather than celebrating the resulting beam of light, it’s time to kick the door open so we can all see what’s behind it. First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker announced this week that the department will soon offer on its website a summary on the officer in question, the misconduct at issue and the punishment — but “not the specific name obviously.”

And so, the city tiptoes back toward what for decades had been basic protocol: the regular posting at 1 Police Plaza of personnel orders, which included disciplinary decisions.

Two years ago, the NYPD ended that practice — suddenly claiming it had all along been in violation of a state law forbidding the release of any department record used “to evaluate performance toward continued employment or promotion.”

Personnel orders had never previously been interpreted that way; even the police unions hadn’t made that claim.

Now, however, the unions are emboldened. They call the release of even anonymous records “illegal,” just as they sue to block the release of body-camera footage in high-profile cases.

This is transparently ridiculous — as NYPD’s less-than-half-measure. is the