On June 12, New York officially repealed a decades-old law that shielded disciplinary records of police officers, firefighters and correction officers from the public. Before the repeal of 50-a, it was nearly impossible for the public to know whether a police officer had a history of misconduct, including excessive force or abuse of power.
Now, anyone can seek complaint records to see if there’s a pattern or long-standing issues with an officer or a precinct.
But it’s not as easy as it sounds. Law enforcement organizations are fighting to keep many of those records out of public view. So THE CITY, WNYC/Gothamist, ProPublica and The Marshall Project — four nonprofit newsrooms — are pooling our resources to bring this information to the public. And we need your help.
Tell us about your experience with the NYPD. Did you have an interaction with a certain officer that bothered you? Do certain cops have a reputation in your neighborhood? Have you ever filed a complaint? Have you ever been harassed and wanted to file a complaint but didn’t? Are you a police officer who’s tried to call out misconduct? We want to hear from you.
Your participation will help us keep the NYPD accountable.
We appreciate you sharing your story and we take your privacy seriously. We will keep names confidential among our partner organizations and won’t publish identifying information unless we have permission. We are gathering these stories for the purposes of our reporting and will contact you if we wish to publish any part of your account.
We are the only ones reading what you submit. Send questions to tparris@thecity.nyc.
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