Uptown Police To Be City's First To Wear Body Cameras

INWOOD, NY — NYPD officers in uptown Manhattan will be the first in the city to start wearing body cameras when they're introduced this month.

The machines, designed to record interactions between officers and civilians, were agreed upon during negotiations between the mayor and the NYPD earlier this year.

Community Board 12, which covers Washington Heights and Inwood, passed a resolution to introduce them in January. DNAinfo reported that they were to go into use in the NYPD's 34th precinct, which includes the neighborhoods, this month.

The resolution states camera footage would be released within 24 to 48 hours of a serious injury or death of a civilian or police officer, unless it would compromise the ongoing investigation.

The footage from body cameras can also be used for NYPD's training purposes.

"We operate under the illusion that reality enters our brain through our senses unfiltered. But at any given moment, our race, gender, age, profession, politics, religion and countless other identity-defining characteristics and affiliations are coloring what we see," says Drexel University law professor Adam Benforado, who is cited in the resolution passed by the community board.

The body cameras are intended to provide an objective view of the events surrounding alleged police misconduct.

Photo via Patch archive