Police Benevolent Association Of the City of New York Incorporated
125 Broad Street, NY, NY, 10004-2400
Patrick Hendry, President
Contact:
212-298-9187
April 21, 2026
NYC PBA Files Federal Suit Against CCRB Over Public Release of Inflammatory False Allegations
NYPD oversight agency violated police officers’ rights by giving anti-police website false and baseless claims of sexual misconduct, racial profiling and perjury
Today, the New York City PBA filed a federal lawsuit against the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) after the agency facilitated the publication of hundreds of stigmatizing complaint records falsely alleging severe misconduct and criminal acts by police officers.
In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the PBA challenges CCRB’s recent policy change to permit public disclosure of three categories of serious allegations – sexual misconduct, racial profiling and untruthful statement – without redaction, even though CCRB has determined that the allegations are false or lack evidence. The union argues that CCRB’s decision to release these records – which are now public and searchable on the anti-NYPD database 50-a.org along with the falsely accused police officers’ identifying information – is unconstitutional.
NYC PBA President Patrick Hendry said: “CCRB’s under-the-table collusion with anti-police activists to smear cops with false complaints is not only unfair and unconstitutional – it is a calculated effort to end proactive enforcement and drive cops away from the job. CCRB has admitted that these baseless allegations will destroy a cop’s career and life outside of work, yet the agency still made the deliberate choice to dump them into public view. Through this federal lawsuit, we intend to put a stop to this destructive practice and expose CCRB’s radical agenda to ‘Abolish the Police’ by trampling cops’ rights.”
In October 2025, CCRB stated publicly that the three classes of allegations in question were prejudicial to an officer’s reputation and required unique treatment under the agency’s public reporting procedures. The agency’s public data reported unsubstantiated allegations under a generic description of “Abuse of Authority: Other.” Substantiated allegations are always reported under the full category name without modification.
Despite acknowledging the explosive nature of these allegation types and the destructive ramifications of their release, CCRB quietly changed its policy and has released these allegations unredacted over the past several months.
Since 2023, CCRB has closed as unfounded or unsubstantiated more than 1,300 allegations in these categories. While these false allegations are still redacted on CCRB’s own website, they appear unredacted alongside accused police officers’ names, photographs and other identifying information on 50-a.org, a third-party online database.
The PBA is asking the court to declare that CCRB’s past and ongoing public disclosures of these stigmatizing unsubstantiated allegations constitutes an unconstitutional violation of officers’ due process rights and to issue an order prohibiting the practice.
Along with CCRB, the PBA complaint names as co-defendants the City of New York, CCRB interim chair Sherene Crawford – appointed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani in March – and CCRB executive director Jonathan Darche, in their official capacities.
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The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York (PBA) is the largest municipal police union in the nation and represents nearly 50,000 active and retired NYC police officers.