After much resistance, Suffolk County publicly released its policy on how it uses body cameras. The long-sought policy raises several concerns for civil rights advocates, experts, and lawmakers. The release comes three weeks after police officers were seen on a body camera kicking a handcuffed suspect.
The policy allows police officers to view footage before writing an arrest report, doesn’t explicitly require supervisors to view footage after a major incident, and gives officers discretion when to use — or not use — the camera.
Irma Solis, the director of the Suffolk chapter of New York Civil Liberties Union, says giving police the discretion to turn the cameras on or off makes them “useless.”
“If they are given the discretion to activate it or not, the likelihood of them using their discretion to not turn it on is much higher,” she said.
In an interview, she said a better policy would have less “wiggle room” and more explicitly state when police are required to activate the camera during interactions with the public.
“Because we’re able to see everything that happened, not just what the officer wanted us to see,” Solis said…
Eric L. Piza, Ph.D. 