The Legal Aid Society, in a letter issued today, called on Mayor Bill de Blasio and Council Speaker Corey Johnson to immediately make available New York City Police Department (NYPD) disciplinary records on the NYC Open Data Portal. This past Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo enacted the repeal of Police Secrecy Law 50-A, which had prevented the public disclosure of police misconduct records.

“A failure to take this step would be a step backward for police accountability, ensuring months and even years will be lost in the case-by-case processing of Freedom of Information [Law] (FOIL) requests filed by the many journalists, academics, advocates, and people directly impacted by police misconduct who will seek access to these records,” Tina Luongo, the Attorney-in-Charge of the Criminal Defense Practice at The Legal Aid Society tells POLITICO.