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NYPD, MAC J and defenders clash over evidence sharing, staffing and stalled data systems
Summary
NYPD described automated feeds (DA portal, ECMS, evidence.com) and a discovery liaison unit but acknowledged accessibility limits; MAC J said a vendor failed to scale and borough offices built workarounds; public defenders urged DA access to NYPD systems and faster uploads.
New York — At an oversight hearing on court operations, New York Police Department and city technology officials described existing automated evidence pathways but stopped short of saying every relevant item is consistently available to prosecutors within the statutory discovery windows.
An NYPD representative told the Council that the department automatically shares arrest reports, arrest-related documents and body-worn camera footage through three primary channels: a DA portal, the enterprise case management system used by investigative units, and evidence.com for video. He said those systems push material to prosecutors “as they become in existence” but added a caveat: "Yes — with the caveat that the material needs to be accessible." He acknowledged some materials, such as 9-1-1 records or forensic reports, can be delayed and that not every item exists or is finalized within the strict statutory windows.
The police witness described the discovery liaison unit (DLU) that supports the DA offices: a central lieutenant, five sergeants (one embedded with each borough DA office) and roughly 25 additional uniformed personnel split across districts. He said that staffing and case types determine the unit’s capacity and that DLU has been expanded since 2021.
Representatives of the mayor’s office of criminal justice and the city’s coordinating office (MAC J) told the committee that a vendor hired to build an integrated discovery management system overpromised and underdelivered, leaving several borough DA offices to stand up their own interim solutions. "The vendor took on more than they could chew," MAC J testified, and borough offices have deployed local workarounds and added paralegals to manage discovery flows.
Public defenders and advocates pressed for concrete commitments. Zachary Katznelson of the Independent Rikers Commission called for required DA access to NYPD databases and a 48-hour deadline for officers to upload evidence to reduce downstream delays. Defenders said they still encounter prosecutors filing certificates of compliance while acknowledging they have unresolved evidence requests months into a case.
The committee asked NYPD and MAC J to provide staffing rosters, upload-time metrics and a plan for completing the citywide data-management rollout. With district attorneys absent from the hearing, council members and defenders said they will invite DAs back to explain why, in some cases, discovery arrives late despite automated feeds.
— Reporting based on witness testimony in the hearing record.
