QUESTION
Council Member Caban's Inquiry on Accessing NYPD's 'Finest' System for Discovery
1:27:32
·
100 sec
Council Member Caban investigates the NYPD's policy of not permitting district attorney's office personnel direct access to the 'Finest' data management system for document retrieval. The conversation uncovers the challenges in sharing arrest-related records, including the presence of non-discoverable material and legal mandates for redacting officer disciplinary records before their provision to district attorneys. This exchange offers insights into the complexities of ensuring complete and timely discovery in legal proceedings.
Tiffany Cabán
1:27:32
Yes.
1:27:32
And so when you have and it you have a rest reports and other documents that are that are put there.
1:27:39
There's another data management system that it contains like
Susan Gottlieb
1:27:41
DD Fives and other things.
Tiffany Cabán
1:27:42
You have a couple of of data management systems, but I wanna focus on finance for a second.
Josh Levin
1:27:45
Finest is the trunk of the tree
Joseph Kenny
1:27:47
and all the other
Vickie Paladino
1:27:48
ones.
1:27:48
Right.
Tiffany Cabán
1:27:48
I wanna focus on finance for a second.
1:27:50
So you don't allow personnel from the district attorney's offices to have access to view and retrieve documents from that finest system.
1:27:58
Correct?
Andrew Botelho
1:27:59
So again, council member?
Tiffany Cabán
1:28:01
It's yes or no question.
Andrew Botelho
1:28:02
They do not have direct access.
Tiffany Cabán
1:28:04
Okay.
1:28:04
And so what's the reason for limiting the DA's ability to view these internal NYPD systems so that they can search the systems and provide complete and timely discovery?
Andrew Botelho
1:28:11
The records management systems, which we maintain, were the covery ultimately lies before it's transit to the district attorney's offices are not compartmentalized.
1:28:20
So what that means is yes, there is data and material relating to an arrest
Vickie Paladino
1:28:25
Right.
Andrew Botelho
1:28:25
Lives on that system, but there's also a vast amount of materials that have no relation to an arrest.
1:28:31
There sure are not discoverable under the law, and therefore But
Tiffany Cabán
1:28:34
there are ways to put up firewalls.
1:28:36
There are ways to do search functions.
1:28:37
You just said that you want to be for you want this to happen fast, you want prosecutions to be taking place.
1:28:42
There's all this this talk about how we can't get discovery in time, but you're not letting them in to get this stuff.
1:28:47
Does the NYPD ever redact to officer disciplinary records or reports before they're provided to the DAs?
Andrew Botelho
1:28:52
Disciplinary records?
1:28:53
Yes.
1:28:54
There are circumstances where law dictates that we redact records prior to disclosing it to an outside party such as a district attorneys.
1:29:01
Why?
1:29:03
Records, certain records must be redacted prior to turning over to a third.
1:29:07
Why?
1:29:08
There are civil rights law.
1:29:10
There's
Tiffany Cabán
1:29:10
Explain it why.
Andrew Botelho
1:29:11
Family court law.