Post by coots on May 21, 2013 22:27:32 GMT -5
NY Post
Cop Cams Eyed
Mini-Devices For Stop-And-Frisks
NYPD officers could be equipped with tiny cameras, under a plan being weighed by the judge overseeing the stop-and-frisk case.
Manhattan federal Judge Shira Scheindlin said yesterday that she may order city cops to don “body- worn cameras” to ensure they’re stopping suspected criminals by the book.
Scheindlin said she was “intrigued” by the idea when it was mentioned last week during testimony by a city expert on police operations, who noted that the technology was being used by police departments elsewhere in the country.
“It struck me when he said it, that if the officer knew it was being recorded on video, it would solve a lot of problems,” Scheindlin said.
“Everybody would know exactly what occurred.”
Scheindlin floated the proposal near the end of closing arguments at a 10-week, nonjury trial over claims the NYPD illegally targets minorities for stops.
Plaintiffs in the case want Scheindlin to impose a series of reforms, including appointment of an outside monitor to oversee the controversial stop-and-frisk program, which Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly credit for the Big Apple’s record-low crime rate.
But Scheindlin caught both sides flat-footed when she suggested the body cameras, which she said could be used “at least on an experimental basis, maybe in a precinct.”
Plaintiffs’ lawyer Jonathan Moore initially called the proposal “something that should be considered” before agreeing that “it certainly would be an effective way to get at the problem.”
“We would recommend it as something to look into and to implement on a pilot basis to see if it would work,” he said.
City lawyer Heidi Grossman strenuously objected, noting that city witness James “Chips” Stewart, a former director of the National Institute of Justice, hadn’t recommended the cameras as a “remedy here in New York.”
Asked for reaction to Scheindlin’s remarks, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said, “That’s 20,000 more police cameras. How long would it be before some of the same plaintiff’s attorneys would sue us on privacy grounds?”
Earlier during the day-long summations, Grossman called the plaintiffs’ evidence in the case “woefully lacking,” insisting that they had “failed to show a single constitutional violation, much less a widespread pattern or practice.”
Grossman also urged Scheindlin not to “handcuff” the NYPD by imposing an outside monitor, saying it could “fatally undermine the chain of command.”
Plaintiffs’ lawyer Gretchen Hoff Varner argued that the NYPD’s use of stop-and-frisk “has laid siege to black and Latino neighborhoods” and was “making people of color afraid to leave their homes.”
;D
Cop Cams Eyed
Mini-Devices For Stop-And-Frisks
NYPD officers could be equipped with tiny cameras, under a plan being weighed by the judge overseeing the stop-and-frisk case.
Manhattan federal Judge Shira Scheindlin said yesterday that she may order city cops to don “body- worn cameras” to ensure they’re stopping suspected criminals by the book.
Scheindlin said she was “intrigued” by the idea when it was mentioned last week during testimony by a city expert on police operations, who noted that the technology was being used by police departments elsewhere in the country.
“It struck me when he said it, that if the officer knew it was being recorded on video, it would solve a lot of problems,” Scheindlin said.
“Everybody would know exactly what occurred.”
Scheindlin floated the proposal near the end of closing arguments at a 10-week, nonjury trial over claims the NYPD illegally targets minorities for stops.
Plaintiffs in the case want Scheindlin to impose a series of reforms, including appointment of an outside monitor to oversee the controversial stop-and-frisk program, which Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly credit for the Big Apple’s record-low crime rate.
But Scheindlin caught both sides flat-footed when she suggested the body cameras, which she said could be used “at least on an experimental basis, maybe in a precinct.”
Plaintiffs’ lawyer Jonathan Moore initially called the proposal “something that should be considered” before agreeing that “it certainly would be an effective way to get at the problem.”
“We would recommend it as something to look into and to implement on a pilot basis to see if it would work,” he said.
City lawyer Heidi Grossman strenuously objected, noting that city witness James “Chips” Stewart, a former director of the National Institute of Justice, hadn’t recommended the cameras as a “remedy here in New York.”
Asked for reaction to Scheindlin’s remarks, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said, “That’s 20,000 more police cameras. How long would it be before some of the same plaintiff’s attorneys would sue us on privacy grounds?”
Earlier during the day-long summations, Grossman called the plaintiffs’ evidence in the case “woefully lacking,” insisting that they had “failed to show a single constitutional violation, much less a widespread pattern or practice.”
Grossman also urged Scheindlin not to “handcuff” the NYPD by imposing an outside monitor, saying it could “fatally undermine the chain of command.”
Plaintiffs’ lawyer Gretchen Hoff Varner argued that the NYPD’s use of stop-and-frisk “has laid siege to black and Latino neighborhoods” and was “making people of color afraid to leave their homes.”
;D
