By COLlive reporter
Photos: Shmuel Amit/COLlive
The New York City Police Department is moving forward with outfitting officers with body cameras to record their interactions with the public, Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill told the 71st Precinct Community Council in Crown Heights.
Speaking at the meeting on Thursday night, O’Neill defended the advantage of the cameras despite objections from some community groups and a class-action lawsuit that was filed against it.
The body camera program was ordered as part of a civil rights judgment that found the NYPD wrongly targeted minorities with its stop and frisk policy, the New York Post reported.
O’Neill said the plans are for the cameras to be installed beginning later this year. The Post reported that the first of 5,000 cameras will be deployed at the end of the month.
The Commissioner said the police department is focused on improving community relations by having each neighborhood be patrolled by the same officers every day.
Knowing the neighborhoods better will also allow officers to focus more of their attention on the “few bad individuals” who commit most of the crime, he told the residents and community activists in the crowd.
He noted how tough the City had been in the 1980’s when he first began working as a uniformed officer in the subways. He highlighted the massive reduction in crime that has taken place over the past 30 years, citing the reduction in shootings from over 5,000 in 1990 to under 1,000 today.
He spoke warmly of the partnership between police, prosecutors and other law enforcement agencies that worked hard to get the criminals off the streets. These strategies combined have also resulted in less bad interactions between police and regular law-abiding citizens, O’Neill said.
In response to a question, the Commissioner also addressed discipline in the NYPD which is the largest municipal police force in the United States.
“While most of our 36,000 officers do a really good job, there are a few who do not deserve to wear the uniform,” O’Neill admitted. He promised the community that misconduct on the part of individual officers would be addressed.
The Precinct Council is a group that meets on the 3rd Thursday of every month under the leadership of its president Karl Cohn, to give residents an opportunity to hear first-hand from the police department about crime and other issues.
The Commissioner thanked senior precinct executives who were present, led by the commanding office of the 71st Precinct, Inspector Norman Grandstaff and the Borough Commander, Chief Steve Powers.
During the question and answer period, Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein thanked the Commissioner for a change in policy that allowed beards worn for religious reasons.
Following the Commissioner’s remarks, Rabbi Chanina Sperlin thanked the Commissioner and mentioned that the Rebbe would always salute police officers when he met them on the street or during kos shel bracha.
Nice photography; very captivating
The whole jail system is corrupt.
NO JAIL FOR THE NON-VIOLENT!
CHILDREN (AND OTHERS) SUFFER NEEDLESSLY EVERY DAY JUST TO SUPPORT (OUR?) CRIMINAL JUSTICE (JUDGEMENT REALLY) E V I L MONEY-MAKER.
END JAIL N O W !
Shal-m
Tell me, what gives government the right to imprison the
non-violent and create terrible ‘Collateral Damage?’ What did
their children & loved ones do? This is child abuse (perhaps) at it’s worst.
If you or i separated a mother cat from its babies we’d be considered terrible people, justifiably.Our government does this every day!
Let’s start a movement, millions strong, to abolish the jail/prison system, NOW!
Thanks very much,
Boruch N. Hoffinger
[email protected]
Nice to see positive interaction btw the groups….
BH…
This adds to the respect the community has for you.
Thank you.