New York Gov. Cuomo signs bill making false race-based 911 calls criminal and police disciplinary records public

NEW York state has passed historic legislation making police disciplinary records public.

Governor Cuomo signed a bill on Friday that repeals 50-A, a section of the state’s Civil Rights Law that allowed law enforcement to shield records of police misconduct from the public.

After years of attempts by advocacy groups to overturn 50-A, Cuomo sign the repeal into law along with a number of other measures geared toward police accountability.

Among them was legislation banning false race-based 911 calls.

The legislation has become known as the “Amy Cooper bill,” referring to a viral incident in May involving a white woman who called 911 on a black man who had asked her to leash her dog, and falsely claimed that he was threatening her life.

It will now be considered a hate crime to use 911 calls to make false accusations that are “motivated by a perception or belief about their race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation,” according to the New York Post.

Violators of the new law could now face between one and five years in prison.

Cuomo signed additional legislation banning the New York Police Department from using chokeholds, such as the one former NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo fatally used on Eric Garner in 2014.

Pantaleo remained on the police force until 2019, and has not been charged with any crimes.

The changes come in the wake of the massive nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism that followed George Floyd‘s death, including widespread demonstrations in New York.