NEW YORK, NY — On the public records search website 50-a.org, anyone can search through the roughly 523,000 misconduct allegations made against NYPD officers through the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB). The third-party database compiles the complaint history of around 96,500 past and present cops, often with data provided by the police oversight agency through its website or in response to public records requests.
However, a new federal lawsuit against the CCRB from the city’s largest police union, the Police Benevolent Association (PBA), challenges what exactly the watchdog website should pass on to the public through the state’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). Namely, the complaint points to how 50-a.org (which was not named as a defendant) identifies sexual misconduct, racial profiling, or untruthful statements allegations when the officer is cleared or the CCRB investigates and cannot substantiate.