ALBANY, N.Y. _ As mass civil unrest over police brutality against African-Americans engulfs the nation, New York lawmakers in the Senate took action Tuesday by voting to repeal 50-A, a state law used by police departments to shield disciplinary records.
The Democrat-led Senate approved the long-stalled reform of the statute _ which is routinely used to keep the public from learning about police misconduct and disciplinary actions taken against officers _ in response to protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black Minnesota man killed by a white police officer who kneeled on his neck.
"The silver lining on this incredibly dark cloud is that the sun is finally starting to shine on injustice. Maybe it's the unmistakable, and in my opinion disputable, video evidence that we saw a live murder on TV, but it's done something to the consciousness of America," said bill sponsor Sen. Jamaal Bailey, a Democrat, in an emotional floor speech before the bill passed.
"I don't know if there could be a more meaningful piece of legislation for me and this body because it's way more than just policy.
"There's a time to not only correct what we thought and knew to be a flaw in the state law, but to correct misconceptions that many of us have carried for too long for things that we can never experience," he added.
The bill passed along party lines in the Senate, 40-22, with all Republicans voting against the measure. The Assembly was poised to pass the measure Tuesday afternoon.
Since 1976, the statute has prevented the personnel and disciplinary records of any police officer, corrections officer or firefighter from being made public. The NYPD only started adhering to the statute in 2016, when the department abruptly stopped allowing media and the public to see the outcomes of administrative trials.
The law became a point of contention following the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner at the hands of then-NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, whose disciplinary record was shielded in secrecy.
"For far too long, a shroud of secrecy has sewed distrust between the public and law enforcement in their communities," said sponsor Daniel O'Donnell, a Democrat who has championed the bill for several years. "Law enforcement officers are government employees and therefore the public has a right to know about disciplinary records and history. This legislation will deliver the transparency and accountability that people deserve."
Police unions have vehemently argued against changing the law. A coalition of law enforcement groups said in a statement Monday that releasing records, including complaints, could leave officers facing "unavoidable and irreparable harm to reputation and livelihood."
However, the legislation provides officers with some privacy protections, redacting home addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.
"We, as professionals, are under assault," Pat Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, representing rank-and-file NYPD officers, said during a press conference earlier Tuesday. "And this in a backdrop of a night when we had seven shootings (in Brooklyn) in seven minutes."
The bill is part of a sweeping package of police reform bills that the Democrat-led legislature began voting on Monday.
The slate includes a bill making it a hate crime to call 911 and make a false claim based on a person's race and another codifying into state law the state attorney general's power to appoint a special prosecutor when someone is killed by police.
Other changes ban chokeholds under the so-called "Eric Garner Act" and mandate police departments to provide medical training to officers. Garner died after being put in a chokehold by cops on Staten Island in 2014.
Senate Republican Leader John Flanagan railed against Democrats, accusing them of attempting to "sow division" under the guise of justice and civil rights.
"The brutal killing of George Floyd is a horrific tragedy that never should have occurred. There is simply no place in our society for police brutality, and whenever it does occur, those responsible must be held accountable," he said. "But it is not a reason to vilify and punish every man and woman in law enforcement who serves to protect and serve our communities in New York, nor should it be a reason to sow division."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vowed to sign the legislation, calling Floyd's death the "tipping point" of a change that has been "brewing for decades, if not centuries."
