Thread by @doctorow

Since the pre-internet days, the NYPD had posted its "Personnel Orders" (reports from closed-door disciplinary proceedings) to a clipboard in its public information office, explicitly so that journalists could look at these reports.

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In 2016, the NYPD abruptly stopped. Their excuse? They needed to "save paper."

No, really.

techdirt.com/articles/20200…

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But the real reason came out later, as @TimCushing recounts: "An NYPD spokesman said someone in the PD's legal bureau had re-read the 1976 law and realized the NYPD had no obligation to turn over this info to the public. So it stopped."

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The law in question is "50-a" - the notorious pretence that NY cops, firefighters, and corrections officers use to suppress reports of their official wrongdoing:

pluralistic.net/2020/06/09/war…

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NY lawmakers have been trying to get 50-a fixed for half a decade, and they're finally succeeded, with a bill passing the state senate 40-22 (every GOP senator voted nay), and the assembly 101-43.

nydailynews.com/news/politics/…

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Orgs that provide cover for police misconduct are wetting their pants over this, with a coalition of "law enforcement groups" publishing a statement warning of “unavoidable and irreparable harm to reputation and livelihood" of cops if misconduct is reported to the public.

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Cushing: "These are your nation's law enforcement reps, ladies and gentleman. And in the face of incremental accountability improvements, they're issuing statements so self-serving that those issuing them are blind to the inherent stupidity of their claims."

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Image:
Nick.Allen (modified)
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_…

CC BY:
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.…

eof/