NYPD body cameras are supposed to create police transparency and accountability, but police reform advocates are now seeking to block the program, arguing it could instead have the effect of protecting abusive officers. NY1's Bobby Cuza has the story.
Activists continued to hammer away at the NYPD’s body camera program Thursday.
Outside City Hall, groups affiliated with Communities United for Police Reform demanded that the pilot program — slated to begin next week and eventually involve 1,000 officers in 20 precincts — be halted until changes are made.
Eighteen-year-old unarmed Ramarley Graham was shot and killed in front of his grandmother and younger brother. Five years later Graham’s mother, Constance Malcolm, is doing everything in her power to get justice for her son.
Police officers chased Graham into his home without a warrant and violated protocol repeatedly. Fast-forward to April 12, 2017—on this day Graham would have turned 24.
A coalition of police-reform groups stepped forward Thursday to ask a federal judge to stop the NYPD’s body camera pilot project — set to begin next week — claiming the plan has numerous problems that need to be fixed.
In a news conference Thursday outside the gates of City Hall, advocates said the NYPD’s plan to outfit about 1,200 cops with cameras is flawed because it doesn’t require cops to record enough encounters with the public. The advocates also objected, among other things, to officers having the right to view their recordings before making statements or writing reports.
New NYPD guidelines will hobble a pilot program intended to test the effectiveness of body cameras in holding police officers accountable for unjustified street stops and other abuses of power, according to civil rights attorneys and community groups.
Melissa Mark-Viverito made sure her final stated meeting as city council speaker was a full agenda — and it was filled with goodbyes and controversies.
At issue were two bills dealing with how police and the public interact.
One requires that the NYPD direct officers to search only after obtaining "voluntary, knowing, and intelligent consent."
The second requires police give out business cards, including name, rank, and shield number, while noting 311 can be called to submit comments about the encounter.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Donald Trump made no secret of his hostility towards movements that have drawn attention to police violence, challenged the confluence of immigration and local law enforcement, and called for meaningful police reform and accountability and reform.
On March 16, I videotaped two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers pushing and threatening students from Midwood High School in Brooklyn. Toward the end of the encounter, one of the officers threatened the young people with a Taser, asking them if they wanted to "ride the lightning." The officers were attempting to disperse these young people from a public sidewalk for reasons unknown to me.
Constance Malcolm is fed up. It's been just over five years since former New York City police officer Richard Haste stormed into her Bronx home and opened fire on her unarmed son, 18-year-old Ramarley Graham.
In the weeks since Donald Trump won the presidential election and assumed office, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has sought every opportunity to present himself as opposed to Trump. While de Blasio has promoted his administration as a defender against Trump’s anti-immigrant and racist agenda, he has refused to take concrete action within his own power to protect New Yorkers.