Tell Albany: Be Fair

Protect Cops from False Complaints

Use this form to email your State Senator and Assembly Member to urge them to support bill number S.4117/A.2074 to seal false and pending complaints against police officers. 

YOUR MESSAGE TO ALBANY:

Please be fair to police officers – support S.4117/A.2074

Dear [New York State Senator/Assembly Member]:

As your constituent, I am urging you to stand up for basic fairness and safety in our community. Please support S.4117/A.2074 to give police officers the same protections as other professions by sealing false and pending complaints against them.

In 2025, more than 8,600 allegations against New York City police officers were found to be false or meritless by the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board. And yet every one of those allegations remains public and searchable online, impacting not only police officers’ careers but also their life outside the job. Police officers have been harassed, threatened, and denied career opportunities due to complaints that are completely untrue.

State law already seals false and pending misconduct complaints against teachers, doctors and lawyers while allowing substantiated complaints to be made public. S.4117/A.2074 would extend similar protections to police officers by sealing unfounded, exonerated and pending complaints from the general public, while still making those records accessible to oversight agencies.

These common-sense safeguards are especially important at a time when police departments across our state are struggling to retain and recruit talented police officers. Nobody wants to work in a job where they are punished for something they didn’t do – but that is what police officers face when a false allegation follows them around for the rest of their life.

Public safety depends on treating police officers fairly. Please, stand up for fairness and support S.4117/A.2074.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]