AGENCY TESTIMONY
Improvements in access to NYPD records, facilities, and staff
0:15:17
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Commissioner Strauber details the significant improvements in OIG-NYPD's access to NYPD records, data, facilities, and staff over the past two years.
- Communication between OIG-NYPD and NYPD has markedly improved
- Biweekly meetings are held to discuss outstanding information requests
- NYPD has streamlined its process for responding to requests by assigning attorneys to each request
- An escalation process has been implemented to address delays promptly
- When access to relevant records is limited, OIG-NYPD documents these instances in public reports for transparency
- An example is provided of how limited access was handled in a December 2024 report on NYPD's use of drones
Jocelyn Strauber
0:15:17
In 2022, I shared concerns with this committee about issues facing the office, specifically its diminished staff, challenges accessing NYPD records, facilities, and staff, and the need to develop a an effective streamlined process to produce comprehensive reports.
0:15:35
I am pleased to update you today on these issues starting first with the question of access.
0:15:42
OIG NYPD cannot do its job without meaningful and timely access to NYPD records, data, facilities, and staff.
0:15:50
And early in my tenure, as you noted earlier, chair Brewer, there were challenges in this area.
0:15:55
But for over 2 years now, communication between our office and NYPD as well as production of information and records have markedly improved.
0:16:06
The office continues to have biweekly meetings with NYPD to discuss any outstanding requests.
0:16:13
NYPD recently has further streamlined its process to respond to our requests by assigning each one to an attorney who is responsible for promptly identifying and locating responsive information within the department and jump starting internal discussions to obtain that information.
0:16:32
The office has also implemented an escalation process to ensure that delays in production are promptly raised to senior levels at both DOI and NYPD.
0:16:43
On the rare occasion where we cannot obtain relevant records, we document those instances in our public reports.
0:16:51
For example, in our December 2024 report on the department's use of drones, we noted that we could not conduct a complete assessment of NYPD's compliance with the policies governing drone operations because we did not receive complete records concerning all drone deployments.
0:17:09
However, this one issue did not prevent us from issuing a comprehensive report concerning various other aspects of the drone program with 6 findings and 10 recommendations.