NYC PBA statement on disciplinary panel report

PBA President Patrick J. Lynch said:

“When we see a panel of distinguished law enforcement figures bowing to the demands of anti-police, pro-criminal advocates, it is clear that public safety in this city is headed down a very dark path. The panel’s recommendation to shred the confidentiality protections for police personnel records will put all New Yorkers in jeopardy. Criminals will exploit this supposed ‘transparency’ in order to escape justice, and police families will be exposed to even greater threats and harassment. With respect to the NYPD’s disciplinary processes, the panel’s recommendations amount to more of the same. They contain no enhanced accountability for supervisors and decision-makers, and nothing that would prevent meritless or fabricated complaints from derailing cops’ careers.  Just more bureaucracy engineered to pummel rank-and-file police officers, while holding the city and NYPD leadership blameless. None of this is surprising, because this supposedly ‘independent’ panel was created to provide political cover for these exact conclusions. New York City police officers long ago received the message: our city’s leaders have chosen their public safety priorities, and they have nothing to do with the actual concerns of the communities we protect. Police officers on patrol must conduct themselves accordingly.”