The NYPD is known for many things, but transparency is not one of them. New York’s Finest lagged the rest of the country in deploying body-worn cameras department-wide, and their legal team has shown particular zeal in creatively denying requests for body-worn camera footage, pushing back hard and even appealing their litigation losses.
As I mentioned in a recent post, the NYPD recently argued in court that body-worn camera videos are exempt from public disclosure for a litany of reasons, some more comical than others. As you read the list, keep in mind that the court didn’t buy any of their arguments:
(a) they are personnel records, because they might be used to evaluate an officer’s job performance,
(b) their disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,
(c) they contain information that is protected under HIPAA,
(d) their release could endanger the life safety of anyone in the footage,
(e) they are non-final intra-agency materials, and
(f) their release would interfere with pending criminal investigations.
Nice obstruction! What I want you to take away from this, however, is that denials don’t mean game over.
If you regularly pursue access to public records you are going to get denied. A lot. It is critical to understand that denial is not the end of the road. It’s the beginning of a different stage in the journey. Many people give up in the face of a denial letter – which is probably the point of many such letters. Denials are often written by attorneys and their assertions of exemptions are commonly phrased as if they were facts.
But that’s not the case.
Denial letters are not informing you about the way things actually are. Rather, they are a written legal argument supporting one interpretation of the law. A concrete example might be helpful here.
The following is excerpted from an email I received yesterday:
“The recording requested, in whole or in part, is by definition not “public record.” (O.R.C. 149.43(A)(1)(gg)). The recording is defined as “restricted” pursuant to O.R.C. 149.43(A)(15), as it would disclose the image or identity of a child or information that could lead to the identification of a child who is the primary subject of the recording.”
How can you argue against that? It’s not like you can see the video to evaluate it yourself. And if the law says that stuff is restricted, that’s it… right?
Wrong.
One possible response – which coincidentally happens to be the one I sent – might be to remind the agency of their duty to redact and release under §149.43(B)(1):
“If a public record contains information that is exempt from the duty to permit public inspection or to copy the public record, the public office or the person responsible for the public record shall make available all of the information within the public record that is not exempt.”
In every state I am familiar with, only wholly exempt records may be withheld in their entirety. If a requested public record contains exempt information – say, a driver’s license number – only that information should be redacted. The rest must be released if the administrative side of things is in order.
From there it seems reasonable to point out that the statute they cited only exempts “any… portion” of the recording that contains or communicates the exempt information. Which means that every other “portion” of the recording should be coming your (well, my… and then your) way. They can’t simply say “no” to everything, even though they try to.
And from there the tug-of-war moves on to level two. Ideally, that’s negotiation.
Let’s bring this back full circle.
The NYPD has been denying requests for body camera footage for years, and despite very recent court rulings in favor of release, the NYPD is clearly in no hurry to turn anything over, still denying requests left and right.
That is why I am glad to be able to share this video with you.
The footage in this video required a court order to obtain. It shows the earliest days of the NYPD’s testing of body-worn cameras. Most of the clips are very brief — the product of officers practicing turning their cameras on and off. The content is generally light, with some real gems mixed in — including one call filmed on the street, and one involuntarily dancing officer.
Enjoy!
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** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
Who knew these body cams would change the world as we know it. Some for good, some really bad.
cameras on, no more leeway, everything is on tape now so these cops are now on some zero tolerance, charge you with everything they can charge you with tip..
Now off to stop and frisk a teenager for walking while black
Officer needs her hot chocolate.
One of the only reasons I don’t like living in NYC is cause the NYPD is probably the most corrupt department in the country, maybe second to LAPD but still I wish we had a competent police force.
NYPD cops are cool! "You're high as fuck! Your eyes ain't doing shit!"
They need the cams but the sheer amount of officers in NYPD makes it damn near impossible to fund
Body cams are good for everyone. Cameras provide evidence, makes the public aware of the dangers the police face, purge any corruption that might sneak into the police, provide education material for the police etc. The body camera is such an important tool for the police today.
an emergency call for an OD, and these officers just wanted to make sure they could stay on scene for whatever reason.
NYPD the most unprofessional cops in the country.
0:07 I thought this was the 1990's because of men like this refusing to shave their balding head. A very common thing in the 90's to just let the hair grow out imperfect, making people look like they are in their 60's. Commonly shaving your hair off became a wildly popular thing mid 2000s to avoid that aging look.
Now that cams are out NYPD officers act a lot less like this.
2015? Both the film, cops and precinct looks like something from the 70's
Every department across the nation MUST acquire these and if they have one that’s not operating correctly they don’t work that day. It’s a matter of life and death for citizens.
Nothing like a gang of dudes in blue breading some kids who’s friend is dying ✌ï¸
Did they really need 12+ cops for 4 punks?
Really? NYPD started using them in 2014? Havent they been in use since 2005 or something in other countries?
And these are really crusty quality ones too, goes to show they weren't too keen on spending too much on them.
what if every job required body worn cameras?
Remeber newyork is an fire arm free state its hard as hell to get an weapon. The same goes for calafornia and they have the highest crime rates in america. They both need to be defunded by the feds till they give citizens there born rights. The police in the video are just the same as gang members with them weapons and unifoirm to tell all the other gang memebers they are cops
And it would show me doing something illegal
You can tell they’re havin so much fun with those things
"I'm very thirsty for hot chocolate"
Me 😂
What I’ve learned from NY cops it even take 15 of them to handle some one passed out in the that would take normally 2 regular cops 😂😂they really are pretty stupid 🤦â€â™‚ï¸
2015? Feels like the 90s lol
Can you find more of these from different departments??? That would be great!
Haha! "Very thirsty for her chocolate" Ho stfu the cameras on. Hahaa!
Does the info in the description apply only to footage or does it also include paper reports?
Great work. Accountability and transparency is critical for a community to trust their PD.
Thank you for going through all the bullshit to bring us these videos!
Wow!,! ….
I mean Wow! …
How many cops do you need .
Like a friggin gang!!
what year was this? decade?
I was hoping for a little more scissor action.
They saw you coming, they gave you all of their shit lapel footage. What is this?
I'M VERY THUSTY FOR HOT CHOCOLATE….
I don't know why this reminds me of gta 4
Nice to see some home movies, wish we had them in my day, here you see the whole version of a case, not some one-sided view of a cell phone showing the world what they want you to see!
Now in 3D Panoramic Potatovision!
These cameras sure have saved a lot of innocent officers. I'm glad you have them. Shout out to all the first responders. 🙂
It baffles me that the NYPD OF ALL POLICE DEPARTMENTS is refusing to give body warn camera footage, even with judge orders. Can the judges start doing their job and FORCING them?
job is dead 90y everything
Will somebody please shoot someone, much more entertaining that way
Look at these thugs
I have to say I'm addicted to this channel, mainly because of the wording in the description by Real World Police… so friendly and funny, thank u for your hardwork and uploads 😊
There's some heroin addict who posted recent video on Al Profit and one of the things he said he did was buy video from the Santa Barbara police for $300 and sell it to the tv networks for $500.
What cops do not realize is that these cams can save their butts as well as point out their misdeeds. They are a record of how people really act. Cops use foul language all the time on YT. Some redact some do not. Cops are people who have power but they are just human like the rest of us. Body cams keep them honest.
Woot ! Great to see, good luck with your NY 'pursuits' 😀 !!!!!! Fingers crossed .
Yee
looks like they provided you with the cream of the crop…..
I love seeing the lighter side of their day. Good to see them as "regular" humans
I'm very thirsty foa hawt choawklet