For each advance in the public’s access to government, there is a retreat. For each attempt to expand transparency, there is an attempt to reverse it.

One example of this can be found in an effort by a Republican state senator from the Buffalo area to claw back public access to police disciplinary records.

In the wake of the George Floyd killing in May 2020, the public rebelled against the law that allowed police departments and officers to escape public scrutiny from, violent, unlawful or inappropriate conduct.

Departments not only were shielded by the law from criticism for the inadequate discipline they meted out, but were protected from disclosing their practice of allowing officers who had been credibly accused of brutality and other crimes to continue to interact with the public, even if they’d been disciplined multiple times.

Within short order, New York lawmakers voted to repeal a section of state Civil Rights Law that prevented the public from learning the identities of police officers who had been disciplined or........

© The Leader Herald