Mayor Bill de Blasio is backing a change in state law so the NYPD can report its disciplinary actions against officers.
This comes after the department recently pulled records of such orders from public view, citing a state law that prohibits their release.
For decades, the NYPD released those records to members of the press, giving general descriptions about actions taken against individual officers.
On his weekly radio program, de Blasio said action would create more public trust.
"I believe we should change the state law and make these records public," the mayor said. "The question they asked me before is, 'Can we defy the state law?' No, the current state law we have to honor, that does not allow transparency and does not allow these type of records to be made public. I believe we should change that state law in the name of transparency."
The mayor also re-stated his opposition to any disciplinary action taken against the officers in the Eric Garner case.
The Staten Island man died in a police chokehold in 2014 while being arrested.
De Blasio says the Justice Department needs to act first.