A Manhattan judge issued a ruling Tuesday barring the release of confidential police officer disciplinary records.
The order is a major win for the Police Benevolent Association, the officers’ union, which sued Mayor Bill de Blasio, the city, the NYPD and NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill last year after a March 27, 2018, announcement from de Blasio that the city would begin publishing summaries of officers’ disciplinary records — with names redacted.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engeron’s Tuesday decision firmly sided with the PBA, saying that the city’s plan to release documents “simply and clearly flies in the face of the law.”
Engeron added the proposal would “enable an agency to circumvent a host of statutory protections belonging to covered officers.”
The Law Department said in a statement that they were “disappointed.”
An NYPD spokesman said the department is reviewing its legal options.
City Hall also lamented the decision, and said they would begin working to challenge the ruling through other avenues.
The PBA, meanwhile, celebrated the decision as a victory for justice.