At James Blake Trial, Judge Invokes Law Shielding Police Records
The administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio has steadily expanded the city’s interpretation of a state law that bars public disclosure of the personnel records of police officers, firefighters and corrections officers.
The issue reached a boiling point last year when the Police Department stopped providing disciplinary records to reporters at its headquarters, citing the statute, known by the clause 50-a. A state appellate court this year upheld the de Blasio administration’s assertion that 50-a applied to officers’ disciplinary records.
On Wednesday, the administration’s application of the statute appeared to expand again, when a Police Department judge invoked 50-a to shield a retired officer, who was testifying as an expert witness in a departmental trial, from questions about his own disciplinary record. . .