10
QUEENS WEEKLY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019
Williams presses for release of NYPD body cam footage
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Charging that “the need
for greater transparency
is evident now more than
ever,” Public Advocate
Jumaane Williams told
the City Council’s Public
Safety Committee Monday
that they should pass a bill
mandating the public release
of NYPD body camera
footage.
The committee is reviewing
a bill titled Intro.
1136-2018, which would not
only require the NYPD to
submit quarterly reports
on the use of body cameras
by its officers, but also mandate
the annual publication
of each instance in which
body cams are activated —
specifically, police-involved
shootings or other situations
of conflict between
police and civilians.
“There has not been a
discussion on how to make
those videos made available
to the public,” Williams
said.
He said unedited police
footage should be released
both to the public and to
family members of those
involved in police confrontations.
One example was a late
September incident in the
Bronx that resulted in
the death of Police Officer
Brian Mulkeen and a suspect,
Antonio Williams, at
a public housing complex.
Williams pointed out that
five involved officers had
active body cameras, but
none that captured video
has been released at this
time — though police initially
pledged to do so “imminently.”
“Accountability and
transparency are at the
heart of Intro 1136-2018,”
Williams said.
As far as the total
amount of NYPD collected
body cam footage goes, police
estimate having nearly
8 million total body cam
videos, many of which
are over eight minutes in
length. Roughly 130,000 of
these videos are uploaded
to an police cloud each
week, and a number of
those clips are sent the Civilian
Complaint Review
Board (CCRB) as well,
according to the NYPD.
“They’re probably our
largest customer by far,”
NYPD Assistant Deputy
Commissioner of Legal
Matters Oleg Chernyavsky
testified with regard to videos
shared with the CCRB.
As far as expanding
interagency video sharing,
Williams also recommended
that the department
begin sharing footage
with the CCRB and district
attorneys in a 24-hour timeframe,
while also reducing
the amount of time used to
“disseminate footage to the
public.”
But Chernyavsky said
the logistics of such an operation
might be difficult
for the NYPD. He claimed
the department would need
to hire about 800 investigators,
each at an estimated
$70,000 annual salary, just
to watch the 130,000 weekly
uploads.
Chernyavsky saying
that the NYPD is also obligated
to “adequately assess
legal and privacy concerns”
before releasing body camera
footage.
“This department should
not be placed in a position
where we are left questioning
the CCRB about the
evidence they determine
is relevant in connection
with their investigations,”
Chernyavsky said, noting
that the NYPD does not
support the specific bill at
hand.
Even so, “We’re not
opposed to reporting
on body camera footage,”
Chernyavsky added,
commenting that the NYPD
is willing to work with Williams
and others on shaping
new transparency policies
.T
he committee has yet
to schedule a vote on the
bill under consideration.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams called for passage of legislation that would mandate the
NYPD to speedily release police officers’ body cam footage to the public. File photo
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