Top New York State court orders Suffolk PD to release records on officer misconduct allegations

The Suffolk County PD indispensable merchandise its constabulary misconduct records, which person been sealed from the nationalist implicit the past 5 years, New York’s highest tribunal ruled.

The State Court of Appeals’ determination forces the SCPD to merchandise records that see cases of allegations against cops the section exonerated, according to the court.

In 2021, Newsday filed suit against the section aft Suffolk constabulary refused to merchandise disciplinary records it requested successful 2020 aft the repeal of State Civil Rights Law 50-a — which had agelong shielded constabulary misconduct records from nationalist view.

Despite the protections being overturned, the SCPD primitively refused to merchandise the records owed to “officer information and privateness concerns.”

But some Suffolk and Nassau PD person argued that the repeal of 50-a doesn’t use to allegations that didn’t effect successful ceremonial discipline, claiming that releasing those records would interruption officers’ privateness and perchance enactment them astatine risk.

Suffolk constabulary accidental they reason the ruling, and person inactive not handed implicit the records to the paper.

“We disagree with the court’s decision,” Suffolk County PBA President Lou Civello told The Post. “This ruling allows for bogus complaints to beryllium weaponized against officers to impeach their character.”

A caller study by the Suffolk Human Rights Commission — the county’s constabulary watchdog — revealed that the section reported astir 400 misconduct complaints betwixt March 2023 and May 2024 unsocial — but it inactive doesn’t cognize precisely however galore officers were disciplined successful this clip frame.

In the report, the HRC’s Administration of Justice Subcommittee, tasked with monitoring the SCPD’s Internal Affairs investigations, stated that though it agreed with the department’s findings successful astir misconduct cases — it flat-out disagreed with the outcomes successful 14.

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine attacked the court’s decision.

This instrumentality allows officers “to beryllium subjected to nationalist onslaught for alleged acts of misconduct that were deemed to beryllium unfounded oregon unsubstantiated, portion those who perpetrate crimes are shielded from responsibility,” helium said.