What's happening
This bill requires the state police internal affairs to investigate body camera failures and mandates at least three years of footage retention, with exceptions for evidence.
Why it matters
Shifts accountability for body camera failures from the Attorney General to the State Police’s own internal affairs department. , potentially changing how impartially investigations are conducted and how discipline or reform is handled within the force.
Mandates a minimum three-year retention period for all body camera footage. , which could increase transparency and provide a more substantial archive for reviewing police conduct, helping both internal reviews and external investigations.
Requires that any footage used as evidence in any kind of investigation be kept beyond the standard three years. , ensuring that critical evidence is not inadvertently deleted and protecting the integrity of ongoing or future legal actions.
Specifies duties for maintaining body camera systems. , such as ensuring secure records, sufficient storage, and officers’ access to cameras, which could reduce technical failures and lost evidence, ultimately supporting more reliable police accountability.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Strengthen Police Body Cameras
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to rules
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
8736
IN SENATE
July 13, 2020
Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to the New York state police body-worn cameras program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivisions 3 and 5 of section 234 of the executive law, as added by chapter 105 of the laws of 2020, are amended to read as follows:
3. The [attorney general may] internal affairs department of the division of state police shall investigate any instance where body cameras fail to record an event pursuant to this section.
5. (a) The division of state police shall preserve recordings of such body-worn cameras for three years from the date of such recording and perform all upkeep on equipment used in such body-worn cameras. Such duties shall include:
[(a)] (i) creating a secure record of all instances where there is recorded video or audio footage;
[(b)] (ii) ensuring officers have sufficient storage capacity on their cameras to allow for the recording of interactions required by this section; and
[(c)] (iii) ensuring officers have access to body-worn cameras for the recording of instances required by this section.
(b) Recordings shall be stored for longer than three years if the video or audio footage is evidence in any investigation of any nature.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as section 2 of chapter 105 of the laws of 2020, takes effect.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16750-01-0
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to the New York state police body-worn cameras program
Purpose
To extend the safe guards in the New York, state police body worn cameras program to have more accountability and prolonged storage of video/audio footage captures by body-worn cameras.
Summary provisions
Attached below is an itemized summary of provisions:
1. Subdivision 3 of section 234 of the executive amended to change the investigatory authority from the New York state Attorney General to the internal affairs unit of the New York state police.
2. Subdivision 5 of section 234 of the executive law is being amended to specify the holding period of recorded footage to be 3 years from date of the original recording, and any footage can be held longer than 3 years if it is evidence in an ongoing investigation of any nature
Justification
These amendments will be reflecting additional safeguards mentioned under "summary provisions" before the implementation of the New York state police body worn cameras program. This is to ensure that there is a specific time for audio /video footage storage. Moreover, thin protects such footage in the event that any footage is being used is an investigation of any nature.
Prior legislative history
None.
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
Immediately after, shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.