Suffolk must provide police misconduct records to Newsday after high court rejects county appeal

The Suffolk County Police Department must provide Newsday with police misconduct records that it has withheld from the public for the last five years, after the state's highest court rejected an appeal by the county on Tuesday.

The dismissal by the New York State Court of Appeals upholds a mid-level appellate decision issued in October, clearing the way for the release of allegations against police even if the complaints were ruled to be unsubstantiated, Court of Appeals spokesman Gary Spencer said Tuesday.

"We are pleased about today’s decision that upholds the release of Suffolk County police misconduct records," Rochell Bishop Sleets, editor and chief content officer at Newsday, said in a statement. "We expect Suffolk County to abide by the ruling so that we may be able to do our jobs, giving information to the public it has a right to know."

In a statement issues Wednesday morning, Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine said, "The men and women of the Suffolk County Police Department put their lives on the line every day to protect our residents ... Allowing them to be subjected to public attack for alleged acts of misconduct that were deemed to be unfounded or unsubstantiated, while those who commit crimes are shielded from responsibility in New York State."

The Suffolk County Police Department did not respond to a message seeking comment.

"We disagree with the court," said Lou Civello, president of the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association, the union representing thousands of county police officers. "I would encourage the department to avail itself to every possible avenue in the courts."

A conference in the case is set for May 13 to set up a schedule for producing the material.

In the October decision in Newsday's favor, the appellate division said the Suffolk County Police Department failed to demonstrate that the release of unsubstantiated allegations violated police officers' privacy or threatened their personal safety.

"The SCPD failed to demonstrate that the withheld records of unsubstantiated, unfounded, or exonerated allegations of misconduct fell squarely within the personal privacy exemption or the life and safety exemption," the court wrote. "Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly directed the SCPD to disclose the subject records of unsubstantiated, unfounded, or exonerated allegations of misconduct, subject to any authorized redactions or exemptions."

Tuesday's action aligns with two likely precedent-setting decisions from the Court of Appeals earlier this year.

In February, the Court of Appeals issued two decisions in favor of public disclosure, which Spencer said are believed to be the first rulings by the court under a landmark 2020 law making police disciplinary records more publicly available.

In those cases, which focused on the Rochester and New York City police departments, the court ruled the 2020 law applied retroactively to police records and that the release of such records didn't constitute a violation of officers' privacy, Spencer said.

Newsday filed a lawsuit in 2021 after Suffolk police refused to release most disciplinary records it requested in 2020 under the state's Freedom of Information Law, with the department citing officer safety and privacy concerns, or provided records that were so heavily redacted they were undecipherable.

Newsday filed FOIL requests with both the Suffolk and Nassau police departments following the 2020 repeal of State Civil Rights Law 50-a, which had provided blanket secrecy for police personnel files. The Nassau suit is still pending.

Civello said in response to the highest court ruling that "the repeal of 50-a continues to be weaponized against police officers."

But both police departments interpreted the repeal of 50-a to exempt unsubstantiated claims of wrongdoing that did not lead to discipline, arguing the public disclosure of those complaints would be an invasion of officers' privacy and could endanger them.

The repeal of 50-a in June 2020 followed nationwide demands for police reform after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The dismissal by the Court of Appeals comes on the heels of an appeals court ruling on April 3 that upheld a state judge’s ruling ordering the Suffolk County Police Department to release records from complaints about officer misconduct deemed to be unfounded or unsubstantiated.

Suffolk County and its police department had argued the disciplinary records about exonerated officers, or whose cases were determined to be unfounded or unsubstantiated, were exempt from public disclosure after the repeal of Section 50-a of state Civil Rights Law in 2020. Making those records public, they said, would violate officer privacy.

The April 3 decision by the New York State Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, said the county "did not meet their burden of establishing that the privacy exemption applied."

"Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly directed the appellants to disclose the subject records of unsubstantiated, unfounded or exonerated allegations of police officer misconduct," the appeals court said.

New York Civil Liberties Union assistant legal director Bobby Hodgson called the ruling "a huge win for transparency."

With Yancey Roy

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.