RESULTS OF NYPD DISCIPLINARY TRIALS ARE PERSONNEL RECORDS EXEMPT FROM A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW REQUEST.
The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined that the results of NYPD police officer disciplinary trials were personnel records which are exempt from a Freedom of Information Law request:
Public Officers Law § 87(2)(a) provides that an agency “may deny access to records” that “are specifically exempted from disclosure by state . . . statute.” The NYPD disciplinary decisions sought here fall within Civil Rights Law § 50-a, which makes confidential police “personnel records used to evaluate performance toward continued employment or promotion” … .
The fact that NYPD disciplinary trials are open to the public (38 RCNY 15-04[g]) does not remove the resulting decisions from the protective cloak of Civil Rights Law § 50-a … . Whether the trials are public and whether the written disciplinary decisions arising therefrom are confidential are distinct questions governed by distinct statutes and regulations … . Further, the disciplinary decisions include the disposition of the charges against the officer as well as the punishment imposed, neither of which is disclosed at the public trial. Matter of New York Civ. Liberties Union v New York City Police Dept., 2017 NY Slip Op 02506. 1st Dept 3-30-17