NYPD LAUNCHES FIRST PHASE OF BODYCAM PROGRAM

Starting with a roll call Thursday at an uptown Manhattan police station, the New York Police Department launched a program to boost accountability by equipping its patrol force with body cameras. The precinct in the Washington Heights neighbourhood turned out several camera-wearing officers for an evening tour. It marked the first phase of a plan to deploy more than 5,000 cameras around the city by next year with a goal of making the devices standard gear for all 22,000 patrol officers by the end of 2019. The department expects to deploy 1,200 cameras around the city in the next few weeks. “Not only will body-worn cameras enhance transparency and accountability, they will improve the trust that continues to grow between New Yorkers and the police,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill said in a statement. A federal judge ordered the program in 2013 in a ruling that found that officers were wrongly targeting black and Hispanic men in the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program. At the time, few police departments used body cameras.