Police lights, body cameras, last-minute action!
City Council Dems were poised to steamroll through a controversial bill giving the NYPD’s civilian watchdog direct access to body-worn camera footage Thursday in an end-of-year vote.
The measure faced strenuous objections from police unions, who decried it as a slap in the face for rank-and-file cops.
But outgoing City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, during a news conference before her colleagues convened to vote on the bill, said it was necessary to end the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s reliance on the NYPD to get footage during misconduct probes.
“I would assume that most of us in this room know that a lot of times, that information comes to them very, very slowly or not at all,” she said. “So it sometimes results in delays, introduction with evidence, and even gaps in what footage is turned over to the CCRB.
“Providing the CCRB with direct access to body-worn camera footage will increase its ability to determine the merit of misconduct allegations.”
Insiders have said Adams boasted that passing the bill will be part of her “legacy.”
Police Benevolent Association union officials, along with a handful of their City Council allies, argued the bill runs afoul of state law protecting information from sealed arrests and prosecutions.
They also contend the NYPD has cut down its average response time for body-worn camera footage from 36 days in 2019 to eight days.
But, more than that, the union officials seethed it’d add to what they feel is anti-cop “unfairness” at the civilian watchdog.
“The unfairness at CCRB is already a major factor driving dedicated police officers away from the NYPD,” railed a union ad against the bill.
“Who wants to work in a system where people who don’t value or understand your work are given direct, real-time access to second-guess your every move?” the union’s President Patrick Hendry railed on X.
Council officials noted the bill includes a provision that gives the NYPD two years to develop a system that separates sealed body-worn camera footage.
Lawmakers were also expected to vote on several other controversial bills during the meeting Thursday night — the last of their session.
Those included another NYPD-focused measure forcing the department to unencrypt their radio, as well as a real estate bill giving nonprofit the first crack at bidding on troubled apartments.
— Additional reporting by Larry Celona
