Suffolk PBA Calls for HALO Law After 50-A Repeal Fuels Officer Harassment

The Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association escalated its fight against the consequences of New York's repeal of Civil Rights Law Section 50-A, sharing a video from a New York State Public Safety Alliance meeting that the union says depicts the harassment of officers that the landmark transparency law has enabled, and formally calling for a HALO law to protect police and restore officer authority.

PBA president Noel DiGerolamo, photographed by Newsday on May 5, blasted lawmakers for not including law enforcement unions in discussions over reforms and warned that the repeal of 50-A had created new and specific dangers. The repeal firmly placed police disciplinary records within the scope of New York's Freedom of Information Law. DiGerolamo argued that even the law's built-in redaction provisions fall short of making officers safe: "Criminals could track down cops' family members even if officers' personal information is redacted from records," he said. The PBA's social-media post framed the push as urgent, urging public support amid what it described as rising criminal boldness.

Suffolk police as an agency declined to comment and referred questions to Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. Bellone did not sidestep the issue. "We are certainly supportive of reforming the 50-a statute," he said Tuesday during his daily briefing, signaling that his office favors adjustment over outright repeal, though he did not detail the scope of changes he would back.

Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini offered a more layered position. "We support reforms to improve transparency and law-enforcement accountability but of course the devil is in the details," Sini said, adding that any changes "must protect officer safety." His remarks positioned the DA's office as open to reform while drawing a firm line against changes that could expose officers to new risks.

The concern about unintended consequences was sharpest at the local police-department level. Southold Police Chief Martin Flatley said he supports transparency in principle but worries that releasing records documenting false and unsubstantiated complaints would bruise the reputations of his officers, a problem he noted is especially acute in smaller communities where everyone knows the names on the force. Flatley said he prefers modifications to 50-A rather than its full repeal. "I hope this is not a knee-jerk reaction," he said.

An NYPD spokesman said the department supports 50-A reforms, though no specific position was detailed beyond that statement.

The New York State Legislature voted to repeal Section 50-A on June 10, 2020, and Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the act on June 12. The law, enacted in 1976, had required the concealment of disciplinary records of police officers, firefighters, and prison officers from the public. The PBA argues that the consequences of that repeal have played out in patrol encounters across the state, pointing to the NYS Public Safety Alliance meeting video as evidence. The specific provisions of the HALO law the PBA is seeking, including whether any state legislator has yet introduced such a bill, have not been publicly detailed by the union.

What the PBA has made clear is that it views its exclusion from the reform debate as a failure of process as much as policy. DiGerolamo's criticism that unions were shut out of legislative conversations goes to the heart of what the PBA sees as a broken relationship between Albany and the officers who work Long Island's streets every day.