5 ms·

New York Police Set to Deploy 1,200 Bodycams Around the City

35 points by happy-go-lucky 10y ago

Maskawanian 10y ago
Not being mandatory and uploaded to 3rd party servers means this is dead on arrival.
- purple-again 10y ago
  3rd party servers is a good thing for accountability and the only real downside is the exhorbant cost that will be charged for it.
  - metaphorm 10y ago
    only if they respond promptly to FOIA requests
  - alasdair_ 10y ago
    The other downside is that a lot of raw footage that normally would not be available becomes available. As a trivial example, consider cam footage of a raid on a home where a couple happen to be having sex. We already let our 911 calls be played on cable news, I can't see body cam footage being any different.
metaphorm 10y ago
it's not even close to enough. there are 34000 uniformed patrol officers in the NYPD. 1200 is tiny, even for a pilot program. also, knowing the NYPD, I'm sure they will be looking for any excuse to consider the program a failure and not roll this out to the whole force. they're allergic to accountability and consider the general public to be their enemies.
- purple-again 10y ago
  3% is tiny for a pilot program? I would say that's an overly large investment for a pilot program.
  - metaphorm 10y ago
    for a department with a significant problem with excessive force and a terrible reputation in the communities it is supposed to be protecting and serving, 3% is an unreasonably small program. police bodycams needed to happen 10 years ago, honestly.
    - erikpukinskis 10y ago
      The purpose of a pilot program is not to alleviate the problem, it's to work out kinks, and get a preliminary measure of efficacy in a constrained environment.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - HeavenBanned 10y ago
      Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't the murder and crime rate in NYC gone down precipitously since they've buffed up the police force? Maybe there are other ways to mitigate the excessive force, but I would say that 3% body cams are a good start for a force of this magnitude. With enough bureaucratic inertia it'll reach 100% in a decade or more. Give it time. It's not a small force. And by the way, civilians can legally own guns. It's patently dangerous to be a police officer in America. Civilians should not own guns. The only people with guns should be the police and military. And that's that.
vkou 10y ago
My prediction? Illegal police behaviour will continue to be unpunished. What police need is an independent, civilian, internal-affairs division. One that does not do street beats, and isn't expected to investigate its co-workers.
otempomores 10y ago
Who watches the watchmen? David Brin. Puplic cellphones everywhere do the job way better. If there was a appthat would emg switch on recording near you so the amount of evidence gets bigger that would be nice.

Not being mandatory and uploaded to 3rd party servers means this is dead on arrival.

purple-again 10y ago
3rd party servers is a good thing for accountability and the only real downside is the exhorbant cost that will be charged for it.
- metaphorm 10y ago
  only if they respond promptly to FOIA requests
- alasdair_ 10y ago
  The other downside is that a lot of raw footage that normally would not be available becomes available. As a trivial example, consider cam footage of a raid on a home where a couple happen to be having sex. We already let our 911 calls be played on cable news, I can't see body cam footage being any different.

it's not even close to enough. there are 34000 uniformed patrol officers in the NYPD. 1200 is tiny, even for a pilot program. also, knowing the NYPD, I'm sure they will be looking for any excuse to consider the program a failure and not roll this out to the whole force. they're allergic to accountability and consider the general public to be their enemies.

purple-again 10y ago
3% is tiny for a pilot program? I would say that's an overly large investment for a pilot program.
- metaphorm 10y ago
  for a department with a significant problem with excessive force and a terrible reputation in the communities it is supposed to be protecting and serving, 3% is an unreasonably small program. police bodycams needed to happen 10 years ago, honestly.
  - erikpukinskis 10y ago
    The purpose of a pilot program is not to alleviate the problem, it's to work out kinks, and get a preliminary measure of efficacy in a constrained environment.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - HeavenBanned 10y ago
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't the murder and crime rate in NYC gone down precipitously since they've buffed up the police force? Maybe there are other ways to mitigate the excessive force, but I would say that 3% body cams are a good start for a force of this magnitude. With enough bureaucratic inertia it'll reach 100% in a decade or more. Give it time. It's not a small force. And by the way, civilians can legally own guns. It's patently dangerous to be a police officer in America. Civilians should not own guns. The only people with guns should be the police and military. And that's that.

vkou 10y ago

My prediction? Illegal police behaviour will continue to be unpunished. What police need is an independent, civilian, internal-affairs division. One that does not do street beats, and isn't expected to investigate its co-workers.

otempomores 10y ago

Who watches the watchmen? David Brin. Puplic cellphones everywhere do the job way better. If there was a appthat would emg switch on recording near you so the amount of evidence gets bigger that would be nice.