Political Arena

NYPD to stop doling out discipline information

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Police will stop releasing information about disciplinary actions taken against officers, the NYPD has announced, citing a decades-old law on privacy protection. 

A section of the state Civil Rights Law of 1976 grants privacy to police officers, the NYPD said, so the department will no longer give out information on officers who are being disciplined or reviewed by the department.  

This includes information about officers disciplined in high-profile cases of police misconduct. 

Critics say the new policy detracts from Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton’s attempts to make the NYPD more transparent.

Engel tries to stop proposed anchorage stops

Rep. Eliot Engel has reiterated his opposition to a plan to establish anchorages for commercial ships, such as oil tankers, on the Hudson River. 

Mr. Engel wrote a second letter to the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, objecting to the plan. 

The proposed anchorages would be a setback for the ongoing environmental work that local residents and government officials have been undertaking to clean up the Hudson River.

“I want to draw your attention to some of the federal designations bestowed upon the Hudson River and the surrounding region that intensify the consultation and planning requirements for development,” his letter read. “Specifically, Congress established the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, the Department of the Interior created the Hudson River National Historic Landmark District, and the Environmental Protection Agency classified the Hudson as an American Heritage River.” 

“These designations work separately and together to protect natural resources, preserve historic and cultural sites, and revitalize communities all along the Hudson River,” Mr. Engel wrote. 

In his opposition, Mr. Engel joined environmentalists and local activists who argue that the plan would turn the Hudson into a “parking spot” for barges and huge oil tankers, pose a risk of oil spills and disrupt tourism. 

Supporters argue that the anchorages would be safer than transporting oil and other cargo by trains, trucks or pipelines, according to news reports. 

Eliot Engel, NYPD, Civil Rights Law of 1976, Anthony Capote

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