In the wake of numerous highly publicized cases of police brutality, the New York Civil Liberties Union finished arguing its lawsuit to make police disciplinary records publicly available. This lawsuit has been met with contentious criticism from police unions, since many believe this action will only further villainize police officers. However, if the public works alongside law enforcement, this increasing transparency will improve trust between officers and the public.  

The suits target Section 50-a of the New York Civil Rights Law, which allows police officers to hide their disciplinary records from the public. The law has been used to hide outcomes of investigations surrounding brutality and deaths at the hands of the New York Police Department. Former New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton used the law to hide records of the officer who killed Eric Garner in 2014. Ten media organizations joined NYCLU in working towards overturning this protection and unleashing decades of records which had been sealed since the law was passed in 1976. In more transparent states, such as Florida, police records proved to be a wealth of vital information that even exonerated wrongly arrested defendants.

While the prevalence of recording devices like dashcams and iPhones has expanded the boundaries of police accountability, more serious measures need to be taken. Simply put, we as a society should not have to rely on cell phone videos or conveniently placed security cameras to maintain trust between law enforcement and the public. As long as police across the country continue to demonstrate flagrant disregard for the lives of those they are sworn to protect, civilians should have the right to keep themselves properly informed. Just as the disciplinary records of all other government employees are public information, the records of police officers should be available to the people whose lives they play a major role in. Doing so will be the first step in establishing real trust between civilians and the NYPD, but the real test is what the public does with the information.

At NYU, many students come from towns where police presence is practically nonexistent — quite the opposite of New York City’s law enforcement situation. If police records are released, it will mean nothing if New Yorkers do not look into them. For years, there was talk about police brutality against people of color, but many ignored such claims. The attention regarding this lawsuit is promising, but it is up to young politically active people to investigate said potential records for troubling actions. If they don’t do it, no one will.

Email the Editorial Board at [email protected].