Personnel and disciplinary record, subject: retired Police Officer Louis Matarazzo

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:

The complete personnel record of retired Police Officer Louis Matarazzo and all disciplinary records that identify Matarazzo as a subject. For specificity and to rule out duplicates, the subject's month and year of birth is July 1939. He joined the force approximately 1964 and retired in 1998.

Per legislation (Assembly Bill 10611/Senate Bill 08496) signed by the Governor on June 12, 2020 as Chapter 96 of the New York State Laws of 2020, these records may no longer be withheld citing New York State Civil Rights Law 50-a (which was repealed immediately), they are now subject to release upon request through the state's Freedom of Information Law.

Explicitly releasable are records including:
* complaints, allegations, and charges against an employee;
* the name of the employee complained of or charged;
* the transcript of any disciplinary trial or hearing, including any exhibits introduced at such trial or hearing;
* the disposition of any disciplinary proceeding;
* the final written opinion or memorandum supporting the disposition and discipline imposed including the agency's complete factual findings and its analysis of the conduct and appropriate discipline of the covered employee.

In this particular case, the subject of the request is a former head of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of New York City; in this capacity he was a public figure who appeared in the press repeatedly. He remains a public figure today; to wit, he serves as a lobbyist in the state of New York which is a profession regulated by the Joint Commission of Public Ethics and appears to members of the New York State legislature on a regular basis.

Under the "balancing test" of the Freedom of Information Law, weighing public interest in disclosure against privacy interest in redaction, circumstances clearly point to the public interest in disclosure.

To state the broader interest of the public in favor of the release of records generally, I will quote the Memorandum of Support from the aforementioned legislation:

Recent events have highlighted the importance for the public to have access to information, specifically with regards to law enforcement disciplinary records. The Freedom of Information Law helps achieve the goal of an open and transparent government by providing individuals with greater access to their government. There is a strong presumption under FOIL that government records are accessible to the public. That ability to FOIL this type of record will lead to a greater trust between the public and law enforcement. (see Memo, NYS Assembly Bill 10611/ NYS Senate Bill 08496, "An act to amend the civil rights law and the public officers law, in relation to the disclosure of law enforcement disciplinary records; and to repeal section 50-a of the civil rights law relating thereto.")

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

T. McElwee

To whom it may concern:

I hereby APPEAL the Records Access Officer's decision in the matter of FOIL # 2020-056-09856, in full.

The stated grounds for the rejection of this FOIL are that it "would require extraordinary efforts." The reasons for "extraordinary effort" are not stated and are vague to a degree not allowed under the Freedom of Information Law (which construes the grounds for rejection narrowly and the grounds to be stated specifically).

Nevertheless, having been provided this response, I will restate that this request is for one (1) individual's disciplinary record. This individual , Louis ("Lou") Matarazzo, is a public figure who has made provocative (and indeed inflammatory) statements to the news media for decades. That his disciplinary record could not be located, or is not readily available upon request, beggars belief.

My prayer for relief to the Appeals Officer is the remand of this request to the Records Access Officer with instruction to make the necessary arrangements to locate and provide the records requested.

Sincerely,
T. McElwee