NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that the NYPD will be investing heavily in body cameras over the next two years, and the entire force will have them by 2019’s end.
This is quite an expense, with the cost being worth up to a quarter of a billion dollars over 14 years, but de Blasio says contributions are coming from both sides.
The official policy draft for the cameras isn’t available yet, but last summer, a draft policy that circulated had some interesting stipulations. Per The Verge:
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These recording times can get tricky depending on the scenario. During protests, for instance, police might not wear cameras so as to not conduct surveillance of a constitutionally protected activity. Meanwhile, New York state hasn’t passed any law regarding public access to body camera footage, so we don’t know how taxpayers can view the captured footage.
We’ll keep you updated on details.
One thing that typifies a fair negotiation is when there are contributions made from both sides. That’s what happened here.
— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) January 31, 2017