New York Public Advocate Letitia James is pushing for all NYPD officers to be outfitted with body cameras following the death of local resident Eric Garner when detained by police.
On July 17, Eric Garner was approached by police officers for allegedly selling black-market cigarettes on a Staten Island Street. In an effort to arrest him, a plainclothes put Garner in a choke-hold while other police officers wrestled Garner to the ground.
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A passerby videotaped the incident, in which Garner could be
heard pleading, “I can’t breathe,” before apparently
expiring on the sidewalk. An autopsy by the city medical
examiner’s office ruled the death of Garner, a 43-year-old father
of six, a homicide.
The use of choke-holds by the NYPD has been banned since 1993.
New York City Public Advocate Letitia James called Monday on New
York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to address the problem of police
abuse of powers by requiring officers to wear body cameras.
“Simply rewriting the rules is not enough,” said James,
apparently referring to NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton’s pledge
to retrain all officers in the use of force in the wake of
Garner’s death.
“We need action today,” she told reporters at a press
conference Monday.
The NYPD said it was already working on implementing body cams.
"The NYPD is exploring the feasibility of camera technology
that will outfit officers and/or equip department vehicles. In
the process of doing so, there are various technological, legal
and logistical concerns that must be addressed before making a
final decision," said Deputy Chief Kim Royster, the
department's spokesperson.
In a report she released, James said the cameras would cost $450
to $900 each and estimated that 15 percent of the police force
could be fitted with body cameras for under $5 million.
Eventually the program would include all patrol officers.
“This figure is far less than the $152 million in court
judgments and settlements paid by the City as a result of
allegedly improper NYPD conduct,” the report claims.
Police body cameras have already been introduced in over 3,000
police departments, like Fort Worth, Texas, Greenboro, N.C., and
the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department surrounding Kansas City,
Mo., the Daily News noted, citing officials from two major
manufacturers, Taser International and VIEVU.
James argued that requiring officers to wear cameras could reduce
the number of police brutality lawsuits, saving New York City
millions of dollars in legal fees a year. She pointed to one
California town that witnessed an 88 percent drop in legal claims
of police misconduct in one year after police began using the
cameras.
The public advocate said she would like to see the pilot program
first introduced in “precincts with the highest rates of
police misconduct and crime.”
“And to ultimately implement the use of body cameras for
patrol officers in all precincts in the city,” James said.
The initiative is winning supporters even among the police.
"We are reserving our decision on body cameras until we see
some real evidence of their effectiveness and impact on the
officers who carry them," NYPD Patrolman’s Benevolent
Association President Patrick Lynch said in a statement Monday.
"The Public Advocate cites the $152 million that the city
spends on lawsuits against police officers, but what she fails to
say is that the city refuses to fight even the most ridiculous
and baseless of the claims," Lynch said. "Instead, they
settle these ridiculous suits when they should fight every one of
them to conclusion, which would effectively put an end to quick
buck lawsuits against our officers."
Meanwhile, civil rights attorney Earl Ward said cameras would
also help police officers who are wrongly accused of abuse.
“As a civil rights attorney, I can only say that body cameras
are a no-brainer,” Ward told the New York Daily News.
“It creates an objective record.”