This is CCR's weekly "Frontlines of Justice" news round-up, keeping you in the loop about what we've been up to and what's coming soon. Check it out every Monday, your one-stop-shop for CCR opinions, news coverage, reports from court appearances, upcoming events, and more!

Reform in name only with NYPD body-worn cameras

As part of Floyd v. City of New York, our landmark class-action case against stop-and-frisk tactics by the NYPD, a federal judge ordered a yearlong body-worn camera pilot program. While initially this program was heralded for its potential to bring greater transparency and accountability to the police department, the policy’s details left quite a bit to be desired, turning the cameras from an accountability tool for the police into a tool for surveilling and criminalizing New Yorkers.

Though the court conceived of the camera program as a potential tool to address constitutional harms by officers, the policy outright states that the camera is meant to “provide evidence for criminal prosecutions.” Furthermore, it allows many encounters to go unrecorded, does not clearly require officers to notify members of the public that they are being recorded, and allows officers to view the recordings before making statements or writing reports. These allowances serve only to help the police, and are not true reform.

So, on behalf of the Floyd plaintiffs, CCR challenged this policy late last week. On filing this request with the court, senior staff attorney Darius Charney noted, “The purpose of the body cameras was to address constitutional violations by NYPD officers, not to provide an additional tool for police to investigate and charge New Yorkers. The pilot program issued by the monitor turns this purpose on its head and is a reminder of the importance of community input and judicial review of police practices and reforms.” CCR has long called into question the NYPD’s accountability practices, and post-Floyd has been vocal regarding the failures within the department to remedy them.

Our colleagues at Communities United for Police Reform agreed, and submitted an amicus letter, with 40 organizational signatories, in support of this challenge. “Communities most affected by the NYPD’s discriminatory stop-and-frisk practice frequently report feeling that the system is stacked against them if they try to protest against police abuses. [Body-worn cameras] would allow officers to create a story to justify unconstitutional stops and abuse after the fact. Communities affected by unlawful stops will rationally view this policy as another way for the police to avoid accountability.” The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Upturn also submitted an amicus letter on behalf of a group of civil rights organizations, arguing that "the NYPD’s proposed policy leaves officers with far too much discretion to not record both routine and critical incidents." 

Then, in a sudden turn of events, the judge ruled against our request, saying that our objections were “premature.” While this setback was disappointing and unwelcome, we—along with activists and organizers across the city and across the country—will continue our fight to seek accountability in policing. We will keep you updated.

See you in the streets today, tomorrow, next week

Right now, CCR staff are down at City Hall, joining our friends at the #CLOSErikers rally in celebration of their recent wins and as a pledge to keep fighting. Tomorrow, we’ll be back at City Hall to call on New York lawmakers to support the Right to Know Act. This Thursday, April 27, we’ll have a special (and free) Freedom Flicks screening and talkback for the documentary Out In the Night. And next Monday, May 1, we’ll be closing our offices and heading to the May Day festivities. If you’re in the New York area, we invite you to join us, and will be posting details on our events page soon!