NYPD to release bodycam footage of shootings, other encounters within 30 days, mayor says
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that the NYPD will release body camera footage from all controversial incidents, CBS New York reports. That includes any time an officer fires their gun, when a cop fires a taser that results in death or bodily injury, or when the use of force results in death or injury.
Until now, the footage was only released when ordered by the commissioner. The footage will first be shown to family members of those involved and then will be posted for the public online with a month.
"Body-worn cameras are only as powerful as the transparency that comes with them," de Blasio said during his daily press briefing. "When people see this kind of transparency, it will build trust."
"We have to get to the day where people see a police officer there to protect them and have faith. The faith has to be mutual; it has to be that everyone understands there is a responsibility to each other," the mayor added. "But accountability and transparency are what bond that together."
De Blasio's announcement comes one day after Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said he was reassigning 600 undercover anti-crime officers. That unit has been involved in some of the NYPD's most controversial incidents, including the Eric Garner chokehold case.
"This is a seismic shift in the culture of how the NYPD polices this great city," Shea said Monday.