De Blasio: NYPD planning to have body camera on every cop by year’s end

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday said the city is planning to have every cop and detective wearing a body camera by the end of the year.

De Blasio said the move will result in the city being “fairer, faster and grow trust between police and communities,” The New York Daily News reported.

The city is upping its pace to equip officers with the body cameras after receiving “viable feedback” from precincts that are using the devices already, Police Commissioner James O’Neill said.

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“We are on track to have all precinct, transit and housing commands citywide up and running with body cameras by the end of this year,” O’Neill said.

More than 17,100 officers by the end of the year should be outfitted with the devices, NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker said.

“We see the benefits [of body-worn cameras] continually, and as a result, we were able to prioritize the rollout because of those benefits,” Tucker said.

Officials said that recruits to the New York Police Department will begin learning how to use the cameras at the police academy starting this summer.

In April, the NYPD started the rollout of the equipment, giving a group of cops body cameras as part of a pilot program.

The program has faced some pushback. Earlier this month, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) filed a lawsuit, arguing that footage should not be released to the public and that, while “legal and practical issues” are being discussed, implementation of the program should slow down. 

PBA President Pat Lynch said Tuesday it doesn’t make sense to “accelerate the program while there are so many unresolved issues regarding the use of body cams, including the very basic question of whether they actually produce a meaningful change in the interaction between police officers and civilians on the street.”

“It would be much more prudent to slow the rollout down while these difficult legal and practical issues are resolved,” Lynch said in a statement.