Finding Records in New York: A Comprehensive Guide

Are you looking for records in New York? Whether you're searching for incident reports, certificates of conduct, or assisted records, the process can be daunting. Fortunately, the New York City Police Department and the National Archives have made it easier to access the information you need. In this article, we'll provide a comprehensive guide to finding records in New York.

Incident Reports

Incident reports are verified by the Criminal Records Unit of the New York City Police Department.

This unit stores and maintains reports of crimes and lost items, and provides the information in these files to members of the public and authorized agencies, as required by law and department regulations. If you're looking for records on aspects of OSC operations, you can find them on the Open Book New York page.

Certificates of Conduct

The department's Non-Criminal Certificates of Conduct and Fingerprints Unit provides certificates of conduct upon request. These requests must be made in person at police headquarters in Lower Manhattan.

Information on the different types of requests is available on the New York City National Archives website.

Assisted Records

Assisted records include cases in which a person is injured (not involving a motor vehicle), becomes ill or lost, and the service is provided by the New York City Police Department. The Criminal Records Unit stores and maintains these records, and provides the information in these files to members of the public and authorized agencies, as required by law and department regulations.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIL)

The Freedom of Information Act (“FOIL”), established in Article 6 of the Public Officials Act (§84-90), is designed to ensure public access to government records.

The records or parts of the records that constitute trade secrets shall be made available to the trustees, the president, the lawyer, the officers and department heads of the authority and their designees for inspection and study. Any such request shall identify in writing the record or part of it that is supposed to be a trade secret and shall indicate the reasons why such record or part of it should be excluded from public disclosure. Access to Electronic Records The Access to Electronic Records (AAD) project provides access to more than 85 million historical electronic records created by more than 30 agencies in the United States. You will be notified in writing if the Access to Records Officer denies access to the records in whole or in part.

According to FOIL, an agency must make records available to the public for inspection and copying, except to the extent that the records or parts of them fall within one or more reasons for denial.