Body worn cameras are in use nationwide by many police and correction agencies and they serve a vital purpose.
In May, a body camera worn by a NYC Department of Correction captain caught fire causing injuries to the captain. As a result, the cameras were removed from use pending an investigation.
NYC DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie stated “Our thoughts are with our Captain who was injured in this incident. The safety of our staff is paramount, which is why I am removing all body-worn cameras from service out of an abundance of caution while we investigate how and why this incident occurred.”
Contrarily, without any concern for the safety of the DOC uniformed force that wear the body cameras, the June 27 status report by the Nunez Independent Monitor stated “the Monitoring Team has strongly encouraged the Department to reinstate the use of BWC as soon as possible”.
One of the justifications for use of the body worn cameras is to reduce uses of force by correction officers on incarcerated individuals. That is a reasonable justification and under normal conditions it works. And I agree that body worn cameras are necessary and appropriate and should be returned to use immediately after they are deemed safe.
Keep in mind however, besides body worn cameras there are probably thousands of mounted surveillance cameras in NYC jails in addition to hand held cameras, all of which record.
In NYC DOC body worn cameras were introduced in 2015 as a pilot program and the federal monitor Steve Martin was appointed in the same year.
Since then, the number of body worn cameras has grown to approximately 3,500 and the incarcerated population has drastically decreased. Yet, detainee violence and use of force has skyrocketed.
According to the Mayor’s Management Report, in FY 2008 there were 19 slashings/stabbings and 1915 uses of force with a daily average population of 13,850 detainees in custody and in FY 2022 there were 491 slashings/stabbings and 7302 uses of force with about a daily average detainee population of 5559. In FY 2022, with less than half the detainee population of 2008 there was 25 times the number of slashings/stabbings and more than three times the number of uses of force.
How do we explain this anomaly?
In 2018, I wrote that NYC and the Correction Department had lost control of its jails because it had abdicated its legal authority, refused to enforce the law, jail rules and regulations against the incarcerated population, failed to hold detainees accountable for both major and minor violations, and allowed detainee gangs to literally control the housing units, making the gangs the de facto authority. Further, the DOC implemented failed policies that still exist today and appointed feckless commissioners that refused to speak truth to power because they were more concerned with protecting their career than protecting correction officers and the incarcerated population.
Body cameras are a significant, appropriate, and necessary tool, but cameras without common sense policies and effective leadership will not reform NYC jails and did not reduce detainee violence nor uses of force as the Mayors Management Report statistics clearly evidence.
Although use of force has increased, I do believe that body worn cameras have reduced unnecessary uses of force by correction officers. However, they drastically increased defiance and uncivil behavior by detainees. some of whom want to entice officers into a confrontation in order to file a lawsuit, knowing that the incident is being recorded.
Notwithstanding, body worn cameras are necessary and effective but the policies regarding detainees that refuse to comply with lawful orders and constantly resist and defy officers’ instructions must change. If there were effectively policies to deal with detainee lawlessness and violence the number of uses of force would significantly decrease.
The federal monitor has a one-sided zero-sum approach to jail reform that has failed for nine years.
Body worn cameras are a tool and only when conjoined with effective policies will the DOC see positive results and attain the elusive jail reform that has been sought but not realized.
Unfortunately, due to the anti-police philosophy of the New York City council and other New York politicians, effective common-sense policies that yield safety and security do not exist in the DOC.
