Judge blocks key NYPD tactic: Scouring sealed arrest records
27 September 2021
27 September 2021
A judge on Monday barred New York City police officers from accessing sealed arrest records without a court order, halting a long-standing practice of plying confidential information in department files to aid investigations, target suspects and shape policing decisions. State Judge Lyle Frank in Manhattan issued a preliminary injunction saying that the police department’s unfettered use of sealed records violated a 1976 state law shielding arrest and court files of criminal defendants whose cases end without a conviction. In most cases, Frank said, the law requires court approval for police to see those records, which include arrest reports, photographs and ...