When police officers are disciplined in New York City, the public will now know about it. That's after a federal appellate court announced that the city can begin making those records public following months of delay because of a lawsuit from police unions.

But while the NYPD is still putting together its own database, New York City's police watchdog agency has already published it's own. WNYC Race and Justice Unit reporter George Joseph told All Things Considered host Sean Carlson it's one of the first public looks at the results of the agency's investigations into reports of police misconduct.

"If you’re a New Yorker and you filed a complaint for something like excessive force or discourtesy, you can go to the CCRB’s website and look up what complaints an officer has received and how the CCRB has adjudicated them," Joseph said.

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