Heads-up to cops on cam, sez CCRB

The Civilian Complaint Review Board charges in a new report that some NYPD officers are giving a subtle heads-up to fellow cops to alert them that they were being recorded on a NYPD body-worn camera — including in some instances “to prevent or halt the recording of police misconduct.”

“I went Hollywood,” one officer was heard saying, according to the watchdog agency. “I’m live,” said another, and a third declared, “I’m hot,” the report said of some verbal signals. Nonverbal cues included an officer brushing their shoulder, the report found.

The CCRB report said based on footage viewed by its investigators, it “has identified instances where officers have used signals to prevent or halt the recording of police misconduct,” though the findings don’t suggest the problem is widespread.

“This specific use of signals to interfere with BWC recordings undermines the purpose of the BWC program, which is meant to provide a contemporaneous, objective record of stops and frisks, allowing for the review of officer conduct,” the CCRB reported.

NYPD spokeswoman Devora Kaye called the charges a “mischaracterization,” arguing that notifying other officers about recordings “is commonplace and not inappropriate” and that doing so is a reminder for those officers to turn their cameras on.

The report looks at the impact of police body-worn cameras on CCRB investigations from May 2017 through June 2019. For a smaller time frame, April 2018 through June 2019, the report found in 53 instances, cops failed to turn on their camera when their tour started, failed to activate the device when required or stopped the recording too early.

In one case, involving seven cops and a group of people frisked at a housing project after police saw them gambling, one cop stopped recording after a colleague told her three times to “Turn it off!” The officer told CCRB she did not recall anyone telling her that, and CCRB could not determine if the frisk was justified.

CCRB also said it couldn’t properly investigate an excessive force claim because one officer turned off his camera midway through an encounter. In a third case, three officers shut off their cameras, apparently at the urging of a fourth, after that officer grew frustrated about a landlord-tenant dispute to which he’d responded in the past.

The report said the availability of body-worn camera footage helped those on both sides of the complaint.

Of the 318 CCRB investigations involving body-worn camera footage, complaints were substantiated in 99, or 31%, of the incidents; officers were exonerated in 94, or 30%, of the incidents.

For the 1,974 CCRB cases with no video evidence, only 257, or 13%, of the allegations were substantiated. Cops were exonerated in just 387 cases, or 20%. With no footage, 1,011 allegations, or 51%, were unsubstantiated, meaning evidence wasn’t sufficient to prove or disprove police misconduct.

Among the report’s recommendations, the CCRB said the NYPD should amend its Patrol Guide to prohibit cops from interfering with the recording of footage as a way to cover up misconduct.

Other recommendations included having cops activate their cameras before they reach the door of a home to which they are responding. In 2018, 10% of abuse-of-authority allegations closed by CCRB involved allegations that police didn’t get consent to search a home. Body-worn camera footage does not capture audio until 30 seconds after activation.

Kaye said home visits vary and not every one should be handled the same.