Repealing the non-disclosure of personnel records of police officers, known under state law as 50-a, is taking center stage in the era of criminal justice reform, with advocates and opponents of the law debating the merits that could drastically change law enforcement.

And at the center of that debate is Norwood’s state Senator Jamaal T. Bailey, chair of the Codes Committee and lead sponsor of a bill that would see the law completely abolished, clearing New Yorkers in reviewing disciplinary records of NYPD officers.

Bailey has heard from both sides following two hearings that examined the 43-year-old law, sifting through the benefits and weighing its consequences. The bill is not intended to embarrass police officers or go so far as to ask for their home addresses, Bailey said, but rather a push for greater transparency.

“As members of the public we have a right to know who’s patrolling our streets. Do you have a prior disposition towards violence? Have you had prior bad acts in terms of what you’ve done while on the force? It’s not casting aspersions about somebody’s position,” Bailey, a Democrat who has represented 36th Senate District since 2017, told the Norwood News. “This is not an anti-police piece of legislation.”

The hearings represent Bailey’s ongoing attempts toward adding greater balance to the criminal justice system, which saw major changes during the last legislative session that included the elimination of bail for most low-level offenses, speedy trial reform, and discovery reform.

Come January, when the Albany Legislature convenes, repealing 50-a stands among Bailey’s top priorities.

Enacted in 1976 as a way of protecting officers who testify in court if cross-examined by defense attorneys who may want to discredit an officer’s testimony, the law has since extended to limit the disclosure of information during cases of police misconduct.

Representatives from various law enforcement unions and conferences were among those testifying against the repeal of the measure at the second hearing on Oct. 24 (the first hearing happened Oct. 17), arguing it poses a risk to officers and their families.

“It diminishes victims’ rights, and victimizes them yet again when the trial becomes not about the misdeed but about the police officer who effected the arrest. In addition to that, we believe the appeal of 50-a would create an unprecedented attacks on police officers and their families. Instead of dumping water on us, or spitting at us, or throwing objects at us while we work, anti-police activists will attack our homes and our families,” said Michael Meara, president of the New York State Association of Police Benevolent Associations.

Bailey represents sections of the Bronx that are covered by the 52nd, 45th, and 47th precincts, where high-profile cases of controversial police-involved shootings occurred. In 2012, 17-year-old Ramarley Graham was killed by Police Officer Richard Haste inside Ramarley’s home after Haste believed he had a gun. Ramarley was not armed. After repeated denials for Haste’s NYPD personnel record, Ramarley’s mother, Constance Malcolm, sued to have the personnel records released, but was denied.

“50-a is dangerous to all New Yorkers because it protects officers who kills, officers who rape, and sexually assault; officers who disrespect and brutalize us. It lets them hide behind secrecy that the government shouldn’t allow,” said Malcolm at the second hearing. “When my son Ramarley was murdered it took us three years to find out the misconduct history of Richard Haste, the officer who shot and killed him and that was only because a whistleblower leaked to the media.”

Malcolm wasn’t the only speaker to share deeply personal moments involving police actions. Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner who died while placed in a chokehold by police officer Daniel Pantaleo, and Valerie Bell, the mother of Sean Bell, who died in a hail of gunfire by plainclothes officers in Queens in 2006, also spoke at the second hearing.

As did Bailey, speaking nearly midway through the second hearing, recalling to representatives from police unions two uncomfortable moments involving police officers when he was younger. One of them included a stop by police while awaiting a bus. The other encounter resulted in Bailey placed in a police van when he was 13 years old shortly after leaving his dentist following a brace tightening. In each case, he was not arrested (he’s never been arrested).

“I don’t want anybody to go to any of your homes and harass your children or any members in your employ,” said Bailey. “[I]f something happens at their hands we should know what’s happening. That’s all we’re saying. I don’t want personal records out. I don’t want your addresses. And I’ll stand with you.”

Received a brief round of applause.