Upturn, Inc.

-against-

New York City Police Department

Status: Filed

Key issues: Police Practices, Open Records, Encryption, NYPD, Privacy.

Court: Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County

Docket: 162380/2019.

Counsel: S.T.O.P. / Shearman & Sterling, LLP

S.T.O.P. and our co-counsel are pursuing litigation under New York’s Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL") to compel the NYPD to produce documents requested by our client: Upturn, Inc.

Upturn originally requested the records on February 13th as part of a nationwide evaluation of how police departments use and misuse mobile device forensic tools (MDFTs), powerful devices that decrypt and download all the information on cell phone. Numerous law enforcement agencies complied with Upturn’s requests, including the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, but the NYPD refused to provide any records.

The NYPD originally denied Upturn’s request by claiming that they couldn’t locate any responsive records. Upturn filed an administrative appeal, and the NYPD then admitted that they could locate responsive documents, but now claimed that those documents were exempt from FOIL. S.T.O.P. and our co-counsel filed our petition in New York State Supreme Court on December 23rd. Litigation is ongoing