Just when you thought the Nassau Police Department could not do more to cover up officers’ bad behavior, it has exceeded itself and placed county residents in danger in the process.

How so?

The Police Department is now refusing to hand over disciplinary records to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly’s office in criminal cases ranging from third-degree assault to murder.

This has forced prosecutors to subpoena documented complaints against the officers.

But the county’s three major law enforcement unions have intervened to stop the prosecutors, defying court orders.

The refusal by the police to turn over the files has caused at least one criminal case to be dismissed.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers recently told Newsday that the refusal of police to turn over the records has also undermined the DA’s authority and slowed the administration of justice.

“The NCPD’s refusal to provide all underlying disciplinary records essentially gambles with valid prosecutions,” Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ryan told Newsday.

The most high-profile instance in which the Police Department has thwarted the disclosure of misconduct records is the vehicular homicide case against Amandeep Singh, a Roslyn man accused of being high and drunk when his car collided with one carrying 14-year-olds Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz. Both were killed in the accident.

Singh’s lawyer said the information will be crucial for his defense.

Think about this for a moment.

The Nassau police, who have sworn an oath to uphold the law, are ignoring court orders obtained by the county’s chief law enforcement officer.

The Nassau County Police Benevolent Association, the Superior Officers Association and the Detectives Association have argued in court filings that releasing the records violates the officers’ privacy and could jeopardize their ability to enforce that law and possibly their lives.

During one hearing, PBA attorney Brian Mitchell said, “We have no confidence” in the DA office’s willingness to safeguard police misconduct records from defense attorneys and their clients. So much for a good working relationship between the police and the DA.

The problem with the unions’ complaint is that most police departments in New York do disclose the names of officers charged with excessive force violations and other misconduct without harm to officers.

In New York City, complaints are heard by a citizen review board, an independent agency that probes into alleged misconduct reported by residents.

In many instances, the Citizen Complaint Review Board has undertaken an investigation, gathered evidence, found misconduct and recommended discipline all the way up to firing.

New York City also discloses the outcomes of investigations including a settlement amount.

In Nassau County, citizen complaints are heard by an internal affairs unit within the Police Department and settlements are hidden behind non-disclosure agreements.

In 2020, the most recent year that police statistics are available, there were 372 complaints against Nassau officers. The Internal Affairs Bureau found 3.2%, or 12 accusations, were substantiated.

Another review of police files found that from 2016 to 2021, Nassau County police reported zero “founded” cases of false arrest and excessive force.

But during that time 30 people won court judgments against county police for 41 allegations.

This helps explain why in 2023 the Vera Institute found Nassau County tied for second-lowest score for public transparency in the United States, just ahead of Birmingham, Ala.

The county scored 10 out of 100 in a survey that measured data provided by departments as  “accessible,” “usable,” and “meaningful.”

In 2021, three Nassau County Legislators – Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport), the minority leader; Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury); and Carrié Solages (D-Lawrence) – asked state Attorney General Letitia James to provide oversight of the Nassau department.

James, in a letter sent to the legislators, acknowledged the benefits of establishing a remote office and criticized the county for not including “meaningful checks on law enforcement.”

James said she lacked the funding needed to establish a remote oversight office in Nassau.

But she added,  “It is our firm intention that the office give special scrutiny to those jurisdictions where local accountability and formal oversight is lacking, and that certainly includes Nassau County.”

We don’t think it is a coincidence that the three county legislators who petitioned James are Democrats and people of color.

The need for transparency has grown in recent years.

Prosecutors have been bound for 50 years by a Supreme Court decision requiring them to turn over any evidence the accused could use in their defense.

But in 2020, New York passed a criminal law called “discovery reform,” which expands the type of evidence the accused has a right to use in a defense and accelerates the timeline under which the district attorney’s office has to share it.

For a misdemeanor, prosecutors must have turned over all discovery for trial in 90 days. For a felony case, they have six months.

If prosecutors fail to provide defense lawyers with the requisite evidence before the speedy-trial clock winds down, the case can be dismissed.

The Nassau County case that resulted in a dismissal of all charges has become a state precedent after an appellate court upheld the dismissal.

The repeal of Section 50-a, a Civil Rights law that kept police disciplinary records secret, in 2020 has further undermined the Police Department’s argument for privacy.

But Nassau County continues to deny requests for police disciplinary records.

This raises big questions starting with what are they hiding

Why do Nassau County police so vehemently oppose making disciplinary records public – even though complaints against officers are handled by the police themselves – and not an independent group?

And why do Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and county legislators do nothing about it?

The Police Department’s argument that releasing disciplinary records violates the privacy of Nassau officers – the highest paid in New York – is contradicted by the law, recent court rulings and the practice of other police departments.

Is it the desire of the department and police unions to spare officers the embarrassment of being named in a complaint – even if it means bad apples not being held accountable?

Or do the Nassau County police routinely violate the rights of Nassau County residents and don’t want anyone to know about it?

When Laura Curran was county executive, Nassau was twice rated by U.S. News and World Report the safest county in the country.

Was that based on the use of excessive force? Were minorities treated differently than the rest of the population?

The only way we’ll know is if an independent outside agency is in charge of complaints and the complaints and their outcomes are disclosed publicly.

Blakeman, a Republican elected with Donnelly on a platform supporting police and opposing bail reform, could end the DA’s impasse with police by ordering his police chief to turn over the records.

County legislators could urge Blakeman to order the release of disciplinary records and call for a civilian review board.

Blakeman and the legislators may be concerned with the political clout of the police unions, whose endorsements carry a great deal of weight in local elections.

But allowing the DA’s Office to do its job and convicting the guilty should be more important.