NYPD Needs to Beef Up Body-Camera Policies, Inspector General Says
(DNAINFO) — The NYPD’s fledgling body camera program needs stricter rules in order to be effective, the department’s inspector general said in a report Thursday.
After interviewing officers in the city’s body-camera pilot program that launched in September, as well as reviewing literature on other programs around the country, the NYPD Inspector General’s office found the department needs to encourage officers to use the cameras more frequently.
Under the current program, cameras have to be switched on only after police officers register “reasonable suspicion” of a person they approach. But that could be too late, the IG’s office found.
Some encounters involving the use of force begin before officers establish reasonable suspicion, the inspector general said.