Officer disciplinary records
Until June 2020, New York law kept police disciplinary records secret. The repeal of Civil Rights Law 50-a made them subject to the Freedom of Information Law, with redactions for personal information, and an officer's history is now something a civil case can obtain. The same FOIL route is how a civilian requests NYPD body-worn camera footage. New Jersey publishes every use of force to a statewide portal and sets a retention floor for body-camera video by statute. This page goes through what is available, how it is requested, and what this site does not say about how it reaches a jury.
Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any change in the law.
A police abuse case is decided on what can be proved about a few minutes, and the two most important records of those minutes are made by the department: the footage from the officer's camera and the officer's own file. For decades New York kept the second one sealed. This page explains what changed in 2020, how both records are requested in New York City, what New Jersey publishes by statute, and the one thing this site deliberately does not explain, which is how an officer's history is used in front of a jury. The evidence page covers the rest of the record: 911 calls, surveillance video, medical records.
The repeal of 50-a
Before 2020, Civil Rights Law § 50-a kept law enforcement disciplinary records outside the reach of the Freedom of Information Law. It was repealed by S.8496, signed on June 12, 2020 (Ch. 96, L. 2020). Since then, law enforcement disciplinary records are subject to FOIL, with redactions for personal information. An officer's disciplinary record is now within what a FOIL request can reach, subject to those redactions and to the ordinary FOIL process.
Two things follow for a civil case. The first is investigation: before a complaint is filed, a FOIL request can tell a lawyer whether the officer has a history, which bears on what the case is and how it is pleaded. The second is Monell. A claim against the City under Section 1983 requires a policy or custom, and a failure-to-train claim ordinarily requires "a pattern of similar constitutional violations" (Connick v. Thompson, 563 U.S. 51 (2011)). Disciplinary records are where a pattern is found or is not. The Monell page explains what the pattern has to show.
What this site does not say
How an officer's disciplinary history reaches a jury, if it does, is governed by rules of evidence that are not in our verified ledger, and we do not publish them. An officer's history is obtained under FOIL and in discovery; whether any of it is admitted at trial, and for what purpose, is decided by the judge under rules this page does not state. A person reading about an officer's record should not assume a jury will hear it.
Body-worn camera footage, by FOIL
The NYPD directs civilians who want body-worn camera footage to request it under FOIL, and the Right to Know business card an officer must offer at a stop is required to tell you where to make that request. The request is made to the department, not to the precinct, and the response is subject to the same FOIL process and redactions as any other record. In a lawsuit the footage is also demanded in discovery, but the FOIL request is made first, in the first week, because it creates a dated record that the footage was asked for.
Request preservation in writing, immediately
The NYPD's own retention period for body-worn camera footage is a question we have not verified from a primary source, and we do not publish one. What we do, in every case, is send a written request to preserve the footage of the incident to the department immediately, before and separately from the FOIL request. A preservation request is a matter of practice, not a statute we cite. The evidence page explains what the request says and what else it covers.
The Right to Know card
The record of an encounter starts with knowing who the officer was. Since October 19, 2018, the Right to Know Act has required an NYPD officer to identify himself by name, rank, command and shield number and to offer a business card carrying information about how to file a complaint and where to request body-worn camera footage (N.Y.C. Local Law 54 of 2018). A second law requires an officer who asks for consent to search to advise the person that they may refuse, and to document the consent (Local Law 56 of 2018). The card is the document that turns "an officer" into a name and a command, which is what a FOIL request for disciplinary records needs and what a complaint has to plead. If you have it, keep it. If the officer did not offer one, write down that he did not, with the date and time.
| Record | How it is obtained | Authority | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Officer's disciplinary records | FOIL request to the agency; discovery in a lawsuit | Ch. 96, L. 2020 (repeal of Civ. Rights Law § 50-a) | Personal-information redactions apply |
| NYPD body-worn camera footage | FOIL request to the NYPD; preservation request first; discovery in a lawsuit | NYPD police encounters guidance; Local Law 54 of 2018 | Retention period not published here |
| Officer's name, rank, command, shield number | The Right to Know business card | Local Law 54 of 2018 | Effective October 19, 2018 |
| Consent to a search | The officer's documentation of consent | Local Law 56 of 2018 | You must be told you may refuse |
| CCRB findings on a complaint | Part of the disciplinary record; FOIL with redactions | Ch. 96, L. 2020 | The Board recommends; the Commissioner decides |
New Jersey: the portal, the policy and the retention floor
New Jersey approaches the record differently, by statewide rule rather than by request. Three things matter for a case there.
The Use of Force Portal
Every use of force by a New Jersey officer must be reported to the Attorney General's statewide Use of Force Portal within 24 hours. All agencies have reported since late 2020, and the dashboard and datasets are public. For a force case that means a report of the incident should exist, made by the officer within a day, before any lawyer was involved, and that an officer's and an agency's reported history of force is visible without a records request.
The Attorney General's Use of Force Policy
The statewide policy, Directive 2020-13 of December 21, 2020, updated by Directive 2021-14 and most recently in September 2025, requires force as a last resort, imposes a duty to intervene and a duty to render aid, and bans chokeholds. A policy is not a constitutional standard; the federal claim is judged under the Fourth Amendment's objective reasonableness test (Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989)). But it is the rule the officer was trained on, and a use of force that the officer's own agency's policy forbids is a fact in the record.
Body-worn camera retention
Unlike New York, New Jersey sets a retention floor by statute. Body-worn camera recordings must be retained not less than 180 days, and for three years where a complaint is registered by a subject of the recording, an officer or supervisor requests retention for evidentiary value, or a member of the public requests it. Correctional police officers are excluded from the statute (N.J.S.A. 40A:14-118.5). The practical rule is the same as in New York, with a statutory reason behind it: a written request from the person recorded moves the footage from the 180-day floor to three years, so the request goes in the first week. The New Jersey page has the state's deadlines beside it.
Florida
Our verified ledger does not contain a Florida records or body-camera retention rule, and we do not publish one. Florida matters are handled through our Aventura office, and the request for records and footage there is made under the rules that apply to the agency involved. The Florida page covers the deadlines and the caps.
If a charge is pending
Records are requested by a lawyer, in writing, from the agency; they are not requested by describing the arrest. If a charge from the same incident is pending, talk to your defense lawyer before describing the arrest to anyone, and do not name officers in writing; the criminal case and civil case page explains why, and defense counsel may already be seeking the same footage.
Evidence and body cameras
Body-worn camera footage by FOIL, 911 and radio records, surveillance video, medical records, and the preservation request.
Evidence →The CCRB and a lawsuit
What the Board does and does not do, its clock, and how a complaint helps or hurts a civil case.
The CCRB →Suing the city
Why an officer's history matters to the claim against the City: the pattern a Monell claim has to show.
Monell →Common questions
Can I find out whether the officer has been disciplined before?
Yes, within limits. Since the repeal of Civil Rights Law 50-a on June 12, 2020, law enforcement disciplinary records are subject to FOIL, with personal-information redactions. A request goes to the agency, and what comes back depends on what the agency has and what it redacts. In a lawsuit the records are also sought in discovery. Whether and how an officer's history reaches a jury is governed by rules of evidence that are not published on this site.
How do I get the body-camera footage of my arrest?
In New York City, by a FOIL request to the NYPD, which is the route the department directs civilians to. The Right to Know business card the officer should have given you says where to request it. We send a written request to preserve the footage immediately, before the FOIL request, because the NYPD's retention period is a question we have not verified and do not publish. In New Jersey the statute sets a floor of 180 days, extended to three years on request.
Is the officer's CCRB history public?
The Board's findings become part of the disciplinary record, which is subject to FOIL since the 50-a repeal, with redactions. The CCRB page explains what the Board does and does not do; this page covers how the records are obtained.
Does New Jersey have anything like this?
Different things. Every use of force by a New Jersey officer must be reported to the Attorney General's statewide Use of Force Portal within 24 hours, and the dashboard is public. The Attorney General's Use of Force Policy requires force as a last resort, a duty to intervene and to render aid, and bans chokeholds. Body-worn camera recordings must be kept at least 180 days, and three years where a complaint is registered or retention is requested. The New Jersey page has the rest.
Tell us what happened.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which claims the facts support, which deadline runs first for the agency involved, what evidence to preserve this week, and whether a pending criminal case changes the timing. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510If a criminal charge is still open, talk to your defense lawyer before you describe the arrest to anyone, including us. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language. Contingency fee, confirmed in writing before we begin.