(The Center Square) — New York City’s largest police union has filed a federal lawsuit against the NYPD’s civilian watchdog board over its practice of sharing information on “unsubstantiated” complaints against police officers.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that the 15-member New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board facilitated the publication of hundreds of stigmatizing complaint records falsely alleging severe misconduct and criminal acts by police officers on websites operated by activists.
The union’s lawyers claim the agency’s recent policy change to permit public disclosure of complaints over serious allegations – sexual misconduct, racial profiling and making untruthful statements – without redaction is unconstitutional. The records, which are searchable online, include personal identifiable information of the officers, even if they haven’t been charged with any wrongdoing.
“These inflammatory unsubstantiated accusations also imperil the safety of officers, who have no control over false complaints being filed against them,” the PBA’s lawyers wrote in the 53-page complaint.
PBA officials allege in the complaint that even though the board expressed concerns about releasing the information, board members “quietly changed its policy and has released these allegations unredacted over the past several months.”
The lawsuit criticizes the work of the civilian board, which was established in 1993, saying it “invites unsworn complaints over the telephone and online” and pointed out that the city imposes “no consequence” for filing a false complaint against a police officer. The PBA’s lawyers said that invites complaints against officers “to harass or retaliate against them or to distract from the complainant’s own criminal conduct.”
“Officers have no control over false and meritless complaints being filed against them just for doing their jobs, and there is a well-documented, long-standing problem of such false and meritless complaints to CCRB affecting thousands of officers every year,” the plaintiffs wrote.
In a statement, a CCRB spokesperson declined comment on the litigation, but defended the agency’s policies and said it follows the law when it releases information about complaints to the public.
“The CCRB’s investigations are complete, thorough and impartial,” the statement said. “The Agency continually reviews all applicable laws and regulations regarding the public release of its records, including disciplinary histories of members of service, to ensure it is fully compliant.”
In a statement, NYC PBA President Patrick Hendry accused the board of “under-the-table collusion with anti-police activists to smear cops with false complaints” and said it “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,” he said in a statement.
