Open Police Bodycam Footage

Section 1. Section 50-a of the civil rights law is amended by adding a new subdivision 5 to read as follows:

5. a. The provisions of this section shall not apply to recordings made of police officers, firefighters, firefighter/paramedics, correction officers or peace officers in the course of duty, including recordings made by body cameras worn by an officer, dashboard cameras placed on any part of an officer's motor vehicle, truck, bicycle or other vehicle, cameras mounted on a taser or other weapon, or any other government-operated recording device, or the metadata from those recordings.

b. Any recording, as specified in paragraph a of this subdivision and released pursuant to section eighty-seven of the public officers law, shall have all identifying details of all persons in the video redacted, including but not limited to, facial features and voices and other personal information as defined in subdivision seven of section ninetytwo of the public officers law.

c. Nothing in this section shall modify the rights of litigants in a civil or criminal action to access recordings or metadata.

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD01365-02-9

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d. Nothing in this section shall be construed to disallow recordings or metadata from being used for disciplinary, hiring or other personnel decisions.

e. Anyone who requests a recording or metadata, as specified in paragraph a of this subdivision and released pursuant to section eighty-seven of the public officers law, may also request any or all records of agencies as defined in subdivisions three and four of section eighty-six of the public officers law, necessary only to identify any officer in the recording or metadata.

§ 2. The opening paragraph of section 1-a of the civil rights law is designated subdivision 1 and a new subdivision 2 is added to read as follows:

2. The term "recording", as used in this chapter, shall mean an original photographic record, disc, tape, audio or video cassette, wire, film, hard drive, flash drive, memory card or other data storage device or any other medium on which such sounds, images, or both sounds and images are or can be recorded or otherwise stored, or a copy or reproduction that duplicates in whole or in part the original.

§ 3. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 89 of the public officers law, as amended by section 11 of part U of chapter 61 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:

(c) Unless otherwise provided by this article, disclosure shall not be construed to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision:

i. when identifying details are deleted or redacted;

ii. when the person to whom a record pertains consents in writing to disclosure;

iii. when upon presenting reasonable proof of identity, a person seeks access to records pertaining to him or her; or

iv. when a record or group of records relates to the right, title or interest in real property, or relates to the inventory, status or characteristics of real property, in which case disclosure and providing copies of such record or group of records shall not be deemed an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, provided that nothing herein shall be construed to authorize the disclosure of electronic contact information, such as an e-mail address or a social network username, that has been collected from a taxpayer under section one hundred four of the real property tax law.

§ 4. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section 160.50 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by chapter 449 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:

(d) such records shall be made available to the person accused or to such person's designated agent, and shall be made available to (i) a prosecutor in any proceeding in which the accused has moved for an order pursuant to section 170.56 or 210.46 of this chapter, or (ii) a law enforcement agency upon ex parte motion in any superior court, or in any district court, city court or the criminal court of the city of New York provided that such court sealed the record, if such agency demonstrates to the satisfaction of the court that justice requires that such records be made available to it, or (iii) any state or local officer or agency with responsibility for the issuance of licenses to possess guns, when the accused has made application for such a license, or (iv) the New York state department of corrections and community supervision when the accused is on parole supervision as a result of conditional release or a parole release granted by the New York state board of parole, and the arrest which is the subject of the inquiry is one which occurred while

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the accused was under such supervision, or (v) any prospective employer of a police officer or peace officer as those terms are defined in subdivisions thirty-three and thirty-four of section 1.20 of this chapter, in relation to an application for employment as a police officer or peace officer; provided, however, that every person who is an applicant for the position of police officer or peace officer shall be furnished with a copy of all records obtained under this paragraph and afforded an opportunity to make an explanation thereto, or (vi) the probation department responsible for supervision of the accused when the arrest which is the subject of the inquiry is one which occurred while the accused was under such supervision, or (vii) an independent review board investigating allegations of police or law enforcement misconduct, where such records pertain to the allegations being investigated; and

§ 5. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section 160.55 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by chapter 449 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:

(d) the records referred to in paragraph (c) of this subdivision shall be made available to the person accused or to such person's designated agent, and shall be made available to (i) a prosecutor in any proceeding in which the accused has moved for an order pursuant to section 170.56 or 210.46 of this chapter, or (ii) a law enforcement agency upon ex parte motion in any superior court, or in any district court, city court or the criminal court of the city of New York provided that such court sealed the record, if such agency demonstrates to the satisfaction of the court that justice requires that such records be made available to it, or (iii) any state or local officer or agency with responsibility for the issuance of licenses to possess guns, when the accused has made application for such a license, or (iv) the New York state department of corrections and community supervision when the accused is under parole supervision as a result of conditional release or parole release granted by the New York state board of parole and the arrest which is the subject of the inquiry is one which occurred while the accused was under such supervision, or (v) the probation department responsible for supervision of the accused when the arrest which is the subject of the inquiry is one which occurred while the accused was under such supervision, or (vi) a police agency, probation department, sheriff's office, district attorney's office, department of correction of any municipality and parole department, for law enforcement purposes, upon arrest in instances in which the individual stands convicted of harassment in the second degree, as defined in section 240.26 of the penal law, committed against a member of the same family or household as the defendant, as defined in subdivision one of section 530.11 of this chapter, and determined pursuant to subdivision eight-a of section 170.10 of this title, or (vii) an independent review board investigating allegations of police or law enforcement misconduct, where such records pertain to the allegations being investigated; and

§ 6. Subdivision 6 of section 160.58 of the criminal procedure law, as added by section 3 of part AAA of chapter 56 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:

6. Records sealed pursuant to this subdivision shall be made available to:

(a) the defendant or the defendant's designated agent;

(b) qualified agencies, as defined in subdivision nine of section eight hundred thirty-five of the executive law, and federal and state law enforcement agencies, when acting within the scope of their law enforcement duties; or

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(c) any state or local officer or agency with responsibility for the issuance of licenses to possess guns, when the person has made application for such a license; or

(d) any prospective employer of a police officer or peace officer as those terms are defined in subdivisions thirty-three and thirty-four of section 1.20 of this chapter, in relation to an application for employment as a police officer or peace officer; provided, however, that every person who is an applicant for the position of police officer or peace officer shall be furnished with a copy of all records obtained under this paragraph and afforded an opportunity to make an explanation thereto[.]; or

(e) an independent review board investigating allegations of police or law enforcement misconduct, where such records pertain to the allegations being investigated.

§ 7. Subdivision 9 of section 160.59 of the criminal procedure law, as added by section 48 of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is amended to read as follows:

9. Records sealed pursuant to this section shall be made available to:

(a) the defendant or the defendant's designated agent;

(b) qualified agencies, as defined in subdivision nine of section eight hundred thirty-five of the executive law, and federal and state law enforcement agencies, when acting within the scope of their law enforcement duties; or

(c) any state or local officer or agency with responsibility for the issuance of licenses to possess guns, when the person has made application for such a license; or

(d) any prospective employer of a police officer or peace officer as those terms are defined in subdivisions thirty-three and thirty-four of section 1.20 of this chapter, in relation to an application for employment as a police officer or peace officer; provided, however, that every person who is an applicant for the position of police officer or peace officer shall be furnished with a copy of all records obtained under this paragraph and afforded an opportunity to make an explanation thereto; or

(e) the criminal justice information services division of the federal bureau of investigation, for the purposes of responding to queries to the national instant criminal background check system regarding attempts to purchase or otherwise take possession of firearms, as defined in 18 USC 921 (a) (3)[.]; or

(f) an independent review board investigating allegations of police or law enforcement misconduct, where such records pertain to the allegations being investigated.

§ 8. This act shall take effect immediately.