NYPD Needs to Beef Up Body-Camera Policies, Inspector General Says

Police reform advocates have called for more body cameras as a way to increase accountability and transparency in the wake of recent fatal police encounters.

The department’s inspector general released what officials billed as the first comprehensive review of the NYPD’s volunteer body-worn camera program.

The report was published the day after University of Cincinnati police Officer Ray Tensing was indicted in the shooting death of motorist Samuel DuBose after a traffic stop, an encounter that was captured on Tensing’s body camera.

However, not every Stockton officer has been supportive of the cameras.

The agency reviewed the pilot program in preparing the 44-page report, interviewing the NYPD team that oversees the pilot, participating officers and various groups that deal directly with the department.

NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis said in a statement that the department was reviewing the study and was going to continue to work with Eure during the body camera initiative.

The report also cites a need to set limits on recording “vulnerable populations”, such as victims of sex crimes, abused children and crime witnesses. But that could be too late, the IG’s office found.

But the inspector general said the department needs to tighten up its plan before expanding the program.

“It is tough right now to be a police officer with all the negative press that we get”, Michael Terry, Assistant Police Chief.

To date, one of the greatest issues with body camera technology is the failure of officer’s to turn on their cameras during incidents, which raises concerns about their efficacy.

“NYPD should develop a process for addressing the unique challenges that BWC FOIL requests will pose prior to embarking on any expansion of this program”, the report says.

“It also ensures that members of the public are receiving necessary information and provides officers with professional language to fall back on should an encounter become confrontational”, the report says.

Eure, who works with the Department of Investigation, also said recordings should be archived for 18 months, instead of the current 12 months under department rules.

The pilot program is separate from the court-ordered body-camera program that the Center for Consitutional Rights won in its 2008 case against stop-and-frisk practices, Floyd et al vs. City of New York.

“It’s our goal to have all police wear body cameras, and we think that it is possible and desirable for a couple reasons”.