NYPD asking for feedback on proposed body camera policy

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
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NEW YORK (WABC) -- The NYPD is asking for the public's feedback on its proposed body camera policy.

Starting this fall, 1,000 officers will get body cameras as a part of a court-ordered pilot program. But the department wants the public's input on how the cameras should be used.

The police department partnered with the Policing Project at New York University School of Law to gather public comments.

** Click here to send your feedback and read the proposed policy **

The NYPD is proposing that body cameras must be recording in these situations:

- Any use of force.

- All arrests, summonses, searches of persons and property, and any stop or frisk.

- When responding to a crime in progress.

- When patrolling inside a New York Housing Authority (NYCHA) building, or a building enrolled in the Trespass Affidavit Program (TAP).

- When transporting a prisoner or any person in police custody to a police station, hospital, or jail.

- When interacting with someone who may be experiencing an emotional disturbance.

Officers may not record:

Internal police matters, e.g. staff meetings, trainings, and administrative activities.

- Sensitive police-citizen encounters, e.g. when speaking with a confidential informant, interviewing a victim of a sex crime, or conducting a strip search.

- Inside courthouses or medical facilities.

- At public protests or demonstrations.

And officers will not be required to tell citizens that they're recording, but they're encouraged to do so when it's safe and practical.