Lawrence Byrne, NY legal czar, dies at 61

NEW YORK >> Lawrence Byrne, the New York Police Department’s top lawyer during a fraught period that followed a court ban on officers frisking people without cause, the chokehold death of Eric Garner and the revelation that police spied on law-abiding Muslims after 9/ 11, has died. He was 61.

Byrne, whose brother was a rookie NYPD officer when he was shot and killed in 1988, died Sunday at a Manhattan hospital after a heart attack Thursday, the police department said.

As deputy commissioner of legal matters from September 2014 until his retirement in July 2018, Byrne was at the forefront of policy changes and legal fights that affected everything from how officers walk the beat to the public’s ability to know which ones were punished for misconduct.

Byrne defended the department in litigation over its spying on Muslims, which was uncovered in reporting by The Associated Press. He interpreted a state secrecy law in a way that shielded the disciplinary records of officers accused of brutality from public view. He embraced the use of administrative subpoenas to further investigations without a judge’s approval. And he helped craft new policies after a court ruled that the practice known as stop- andfrisk was discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Byrne oversaw about 100 lawyers in the police department’s legal bureau and established a unit of about 30 lawyers designed to reduce the cost of lawsuits by investigating and defending officers against unfounded allegations.

“Larry Byrne systematically fought any effort at external oversight, be it through ( public records requests), from the City Council, or the Mayor’s Office,” Albert Fox Cahn, the founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, told The Intercept in August. “He wanted the NYPD to be a self-governing entity.”

Byrne’s death left many people in law enforcement shocked and saddened.

Byrne had “great judgment” and “always had an empathy for the right things,” his long time friend, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, said in a statement.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea called Byrne a “tremendous attorney” and an “advocate for all of the people of New York City.”

“It’s just a real sad day for the NYPD,” Shea told WPIX-TV.

Byrne, a 1984 graduate of the New York University School of Law, was a federal prosecutor in Manhattan and in the U.S. Justice Department’s Criminal Division in Washington; worked at various law firms; and had two stints at a corporate risk assessment firm founded by Freeh — immediately before and after his time at the NYPD. Byrne was a director and senior adviser at the firm until last month, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Edward Byrne’s death garnered national attention. Former President George H.W. Bush carried his badge with him while running for the White House, and a major Justice Department grant program is named in his honor.

Over the years, Lawrence Byrne and his family have testified before the state parole board, urging it not to release the men who killed his brother.

Byrne’s survivors include his mother, brothers and three sons, the police department said. A funeral is scheduled for Friday at St. James Church in Seaford.