By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
New York Times
The deaths of unarmed civilians
like Eric Garner in New York City and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., led to
demands for greater transparency in the workings of police forces all over the
country. The need for more openness is especially pressing in New York, where a
uniquely strict disclosure law has shielded from public view the records of
individual officers, even those who have committed crimes.
In many states, including New
York, it can be difficult for the public to even learn the names of officers
involved in fatal shootings. New York City’s Police Department came forth
quickly with the name of the officer who shot and killed 28-year-old Akai
Gurley in the stairwell of a public housing apartment building in November. The
officer, Peter Liang, was indicted on charges of second-degree manslaughter
this week.
But such disclosures are
unusual — and done at the department’s discretion. Indeed, under Section 50-a
of the state civil rights code, New York exempts the police and other uniformed
services from disclosure requirements that apply to other public employees.
Approved in 1976, the statute
sought to protect police officers from the Freedom of Information Law, passed
two years earlier, and keep defense lawyers from rummaging around in police
personnel files for information to use in cross-examining officers during
criminal trials. Under Section 50-a, an officer’s personnel record cannot be
publicly released or cited in court without judicial approval, protections that
have been extended to correction officers and professional firefighters.
Meanwhile, the definition of “personnel record” has grown so broad that the
courts have interpreted it to cover virtually any information that could be brought
to bear in decisions on promotion or retention.
The unjustified secrecy
surrounding police records undermines public confidence in law enforcement as
well as any effort to hold police departments accountable for misconduct. That
point was underscored late last year in a report by the New York State
Committee on Open Government, a unit within the Department of State that
advises government, the public and the news media on freedom of information and
privacy matters.
The report, to Gov. Andrew
Cuomo and the State Legislature, noted that New Yorkers had “far less access to
information about the activities of police departments than virtually any other
public agency,” even though people encounter police officers in a more direct
way than they do other public employees. Robert Freeman, executive director of
the committee, told The Times recently that 50-a had essentially codified “the
blue wall of silence,” making it possible for the police to hide an officer’s
conduct from the public.
