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Database Containing 450,000 Records of NYPD Misconduct Now Available

Loaded on Oct. 1, 2023 by Douglas Ankney published in Criminal Legal News October, 2023, page 16
Filed under: Police Misconduct, Databases. Location: New York.

by Douglas Ankney

In June 2023, the Legal Aid Society made available to the public a new database with over 450,000 searchable records of New York Police Department (“NYPD”) and Department of Corrections (“DOC”) officers with the goal of shining a light on the actions of the NYPD and the DOC. It’s relatively simple to use, just enter an officer’s name, and the Law Enforcement Look Up enables users to find and review lawsuit records, Civilian Complaint Review Board records of allegations, internal misconduct records, District Attorney and Judicial records, media reports, and payroll documents as well as some DOC staff discipline records.

With the repeal of New York Civil Rights Law 50-­a (which had allowed law enforcement agencies to refuse access to “personnel records used to evaluate performance toward continued employment or promotion”), the Law Enforcement Look Up came to fruition. “This is a shining example of what collaborative efforts can achieve,” said Jennvine Wong, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society’s Cop Accountability Project. “We’ve pulled data from so many different sources. It was FOILing, it was getting it from investigative journalists, it was getting it from our allies, it was getting submissions from civil rights attorneys and from criminal defense attorneys. It was records we were able to share because of the repeal of 50-­a, which of course was achieved through the efforts of so many different grassroots organizations and activists and advocates. This is a testament to a collective effort for transparency.”

That so many different sources were woven together to create the database speaks volumes about the NYPD’s uncooperative stance against records requests regarding officer misconduct. According to the Police Data Transparency Index from the Vera Institute of Justice, the NYPD is one of the 10 lowest scoring police departments regarding transparency and officer-­misconduct complaints.  

Source: vice.com

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More from this issue:

  1. Police Misconduct Reform: Forcing Police Officers to Have ‘Skin in the Game’ by Creating Financial Incentives with Insurance Premiums, by David Reutter
  2. Sixth Circuit: Sentence Procedurally Unreasonable Where District Court Failed to Explain Decision to Impose Consecutive Sentences and Substantively Unreasonable Where Court Improperly Weighed Sentencing Factors, by Douglas Ankney
  3. Closed Circuit Cameras: Not the Objective Lenses We’re Told, by Benjamin Tschirhart
  4. Database Containing 450,000 Records of NYPD Misconduct Now Available, by Douglas Ankney
  5. Ninth Circuit Announces District Courts Have Discretion to Consider Non-­Retroactive Changes in Post-­Sentencing Decisional Law in Assessing ‘Extraordinary and Compelling Reasons’ for Sentence Reduction, by Douglas Ankney
  6. New Tool Used by Police to Improve Interviewing Skills, by Jordan Arizmendi
  7. New York Court of Appeals Suppresses Evidence Because Police Lacked Reasonable Suspicion Necessary for Level 3 Stop and Frisk Under De Bour Framework, by Richard Resch
  8. Kansas Supreme Court: Defendants May File a Motion to Correct Illegal Sentence in Appellate Court While on Direct Review, by Douglas Ankney
  9. U.S. Sentencing Commission Publishes Compassionate Release Datafile for Fiscal Years 2020-­2022, by Casey Bastian
  10. SCOTUS Announces Pending Investigation or Proceeding Is Not Required for an Offense to be ‘Related to Obstruction of Justice’ and Qualify as ‘Aggravated Felony’ in Removal of Noncitizen, by Douglas Ankney
  11. We’re All Suspects in a DNA Lineup, Waiting to be Matched with a Crime, by Nisha Whitehead, John W. Whitehead
  12. California Supreme Court Vacates Second Degree Murder Conviction Where Jury Instructed on Now Invalid Felony-­Murder Theory, by Douglas Ankney
  13. U.S. Supreme Court Announces § 2255(e)’s ‘Saving Clause’ Does Not Enable Prisoners to File § 2241 Petition Based on AEDPA’s Rule Against Second or Successive § 2255 Motions, by Douglas Ankney
  14. ‘Data for Defenders’: Valuable New Resource for Defense Counsel and Pro Se Litigants, by Jordan Arizmendi
  15. Maryland Supreme Court: Firearms Identification Methodology Does Not Provide Reliable Basis for Expert’s Unqualified Opinion That Bullets Recovered at Crime Scene Were Fired From Defendant’s Gun, by Douglas Ankney
  16. California Court of Appeal: Trial Court Abused Discretion in Failing to Recall Terminally Ill Prisoner’s Sentence Following CDCR’s Recommendation for Compassionate Release, by Douglas Ankney
  17. American Bar Association’s 2023 Plea Bargain Task Force Report, by Carlo Difundo
  18. Fourth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Habeas Petition Where District Court Failed to Review Magistrate’s Report De Novo After Characterizing Petitioner’s Objections as ‘Attempt to Reargue Case’, by Douglas Ankney
  19. D.C. Circuit Orders New Trial Due to Brady Violations Involving Source of Information, Not Withholding of Information Itself, by Richard Resch
  20. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Holds Granting Motion for New Trial Because ‘Verdict Is Contrary to Law and Evidence,’ Without Further Explanation, Bars Retrial, by Matthew Clarke
  21. Third Circuit Vacates Possession of Cocaine Conviction Due to Insufficient Evidence to Support Weight Element, by David Reutter
  22. How the Backdoor Loophole Enables the FBI to Search Your Communications Without a Warrant, by Michael Thompson
  23. Ninth Circuit Announces No Deference to Application Note 1 to Guideline § 4B1.2(b) Because It Impermissibly Expands Definition of ‘Controlled Substance Offense’, by Douglas Ankney
  24. Third Circuit Vacates Denial of First Step Act Relief Because District Court’s Failure to Expressly Identify Which § 841(b) Provision Supported Sentence Precludes Appellate Review, by Douglas Ankney
  25. Digital Voiceprinting Is Not Ready for Court, by Anthony Accurso
  26. Oregon Supreme Court Clarifies Mansor Ruling for Search Warrants for Digital Data and Announces Framework for Suppression When Warrant Contains Both Constitutional and Unconstitutional Search Categories, by Anthony Accurso
  27. News in Brief

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