Police preparing for body cameras in pilot program
NEW YORK — The New York Police Department is set to deploy the first body cameras to officers after resolving some of the thorniest issues on when to switch on the camera, how long to keep the tape and when to tell the public they’re being recorded.
About 1,200 officers who work the evening shifts around the city will get the cameras starting at the end of the month. The pilot program was ordered by a judge following a 2013 ruling that officers were wrongly targeting black and Latino men with its stopand-frisk program. At the time, few police departments used body cameras.
Their use has since exploded around the country following a string of killings of unarmed blacks by police and the ambush killings of officers in New York City, Dallas and Baton Rouge, La. Both officers and citizens have said cameras could help deescalate situations that lead to violence.
The NYPD’s deployment had been on hold following a lengthy process to choose the camera company and questions on how they would work. The department sought public comment through a questionnaire and worked with New York University’s Policing Project to analyze the results.
Public response was disproportionately white relative to the city’s population, police officials acknowledged. But the report found that on many key questions, there was little difference in response by race.
“I think this shows that the public can have a voice in policing,” said Barry Friedman of NYU’s Policing Project.
One change based on the results was to alert civilians they are being recorded.
“New Yorkers ... really want to be told they’re being recorded,” assistant deputy commissioner Nancy Hoppock said. “And officers really don’t want to tell them.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he wants all 23,000 of its patrol officers outfitted with cameras by 2019.