Police properly applied a legal doctrine allowing it to refuse to acknowledge the existence of records, requested under state Freedom of Information Law, that related to surveillance programs, a Manhattan appeals court found.
The ruling by the Appellate Division, First Department, settles a dispute between two trial judges who disagreed in 2014 as to whether the New York City Police Department could use the “Glomar Doctrine.” The policy allows federal departments to cite security concerns to neither confirm nor deny the existence of records requested under the federal Freedom of Information Act.
