New York County Defender Services

Testimony of

Sergio De La Pava

Legal Director

New York County Defender Services

Before the

Committee on Public Safety

Intros 1237-2025 (Feliz), 1402-2025 (Salaam), 1451-2025 (Adams)

November 19, 2025

My name is Sergio De La Pava and I am the Legal Director at New York County Defender

Services (NYCDS). NYCDS is an indigent defense office that every year represents tens of

thousands of New Yorkers in Manhattan’s Criminal, Family, and Supreme Courts. Thank you to

Chair Salaam for holding today’s hearing and to all of the Council Members who have sponsored

the bills on today’s agenda that seek to bring more accountability and transparency to our city’s

law enforcement operations.

I. Background:

Public defense organizations have a direct interest in strengthening the transparency,

accountability, and oversight of policing in New York City. Every day, our lawyers represent

individuals whose lives are shaped by police mistreatment and selective enforcement. We

commonly uncover these abusive police tactics through legal discovery and from our clients’

accounts of their arrests and interrogations. Yet, despite overwhelming evidence of rampant

police misconduct, the NYPD remains one of the least transparent agencies in New York City.

This has created a system where public defenders rely on incomplete or delayed information

New York County Defender Services

100 William St, 20th Floor, New York, New York 10038 | t: 212.803.1500 | f: 212.571.6035 | nycds.org2

about our client’s arrest, the related investigation, and any history of misconduct by the officers

involved. And more generally, we also lack the information that would reveal patterns of

corruption and abuse, and shed light on why our clients were targeted in the first place.

The NYPD‘s lack of transparency extends to their FOIL practices. The NYPD routinely causes

unwarranted delays or flatly refuses to release information to defense organizations.

Additionally, the police often thwart the release of body-worn camera footage to the CCRB,

negatively impacting many of our clients who have complaints against the police. Taken

together, these three bills would strongly bolster police transparency and accountability and

begin to address these inequities.

II. Proposed Legislation:

A. Intro 1237-2025 (Feliz) - Requiring the police department to report on all

criminal complaints and arrests.

NYCDS supports this legislation. This bill would require the New York City Police

Department (“NYPD”) to report data on all criminal complaints and arrests dating back to 2007,

with quarterly updates. Such data would include a listing of all criminal complaints reported to

the NYPD, and information regarding each such complaint, including an indication of whether

an arrest for the underlying complaint occurred.

Every year, thousands of New Yorkers, disproportionately from Black and Latinx communities,

are pulled into the criminal legal system. By requiring the NYPD to report detailed data on

complaints and arrests, this bill would bring transparency around how complaints are resolved

and help spot patterns of over-policing, discriminatory enforcement, and inconsistencies that

directly impact our communities. Regular reporting also gives public defenders the ability to

contextualize officer conduct and evaluate patterns of overcharging or pretextual stops. The

proposed legislation builds public trust by promoting transparency.

B. Intro 1402-2025 (Salaam) - Requiring the Department of Investigations to

Report on the NYPD’s Compliance With FOIL

NYCDS supports this legislation. This bill would require the New York City Department of

Investigations (DOI) to produce an annual report on the New York City Police Department’s

compliance with the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).

The NYPD has historically been one of the least compliant major agencies with respect to FOIL,

routinely delaying, denying, or ignoring lawful requests. For example, a recent audit revealed

that the NYPD took an average of 133 business days to grant or deny FOIL requests for

New York County Defender Services

100 William St, 20th Floor, New York, New York 10038 | t: 212.803.1500 | f: 212.571.6035 | nycds.org3

body-worn camera footage, and in approximately 85% of cases, the department did not meet the

standard 25-business-day response timeline.1 These delays hinder public defense organization's

ability to uncover patterns of unconstitutional or problematic behavior by the NYPD. Requiring

the NYPD to be more transparent about their FOIL procedures allows for greater accountability

to the public, especially for our clients who come from communities that are over-policed and

more often brutalized by the police.

This legislation will shine a greater light on the NYPD’s practice of using excessive delays,

blanket denials, and other obstructive tactics to prevent access to public records. For public

defenders, it can also provide critical information about officers’ credibility, discriminatory

actions, and departmental practices that impede transparency.

We strongly support the idea of an independent agency monitoring such practices, as it

demonstrates that police transparency is not optional, but instead a legal obligation.

C. Int. 1451-2025 (Adams) - Requiring NYPD to Provide the CCRB With Direct

Access to Body Worn Camera Footage.

NYCDS supports this legislation. The bill would require the New York City Police Department

to provide the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) with direct real time access to

body-worn camera (BWC) footage servers. This would permit CCRB employees to search, view,

and use these files for the purpose of investigating and prosecuting allegations of police

misconduct.

The current lack of direct access gives the NYPD significant control over when and what

evidentiary footage the CCRB can review. Public defenders have a direct stake in ensuring that

police oversight mechanisms are robust, independent, and allow for access to evidence without

obstruction. We routinely represent clients harmed by police practices, so timely and complete

access to body-worn camera footage is essential to uncover patterns of unconstitutional practices.

CCRB’s strengthened investigative authority ultimately supports defense work by ensuring that

police misconduct is meaningfully scrutinized, documented, and addressed.

As mentioned above, the current FOIL system controlled by the NYPD allows the department to

delay, strict, and even strategically curate what footage an oversight agency receives. These

delays not only compromise the CCRB’s ability to investigate misconduct but also erode public

trust in both the complaint process and justice system. For many of our clients, who come

1 Ben Feuerherd,

2025, available at

“NYPD has failed to release police body camera footage on time, audit finds,

” Gothamist, Oct. 31,

https://gothamist.com/news/nypd-has-failed-to-release-police-body-camera-footage-on-time-audit-finds

New York County Defender Services

100 William St, 20th Floor, New York, New York 10038 | t: 212.803.1500 | f: 212.571.6035 | nycds.org4

disproportionately from heavily-surveilled and overpoliced communities, these practices

perpetuate real harm.

Lastly, this legislation promotes accountability at a time when body-worn cameras have not fully

delivered on their promise of transparency. The technology was hailed to the public as a

powerful mechanism for promoting transparency and deterring police misconduct. This

legislation will help ensure that this promise is kept.

III. Conclusion

NYCDS supports Intro 1237-2025 (Feliz), Intro 1402-2025 (Salaam) and Int. 1451-2025

(Adams). They are an important step in promoting fairness, transparency, and accountability in

New York’s law enforcement.

If you have any questions about my testimony, please email policy@nycds.org.