December 3, 2014
Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everyone. Everybody good?
Well last year, and this, we've spoken continuously about the need to bring police and community together, keep this city safe. And also deepen the partnership between police and community. I've said repeatedly we are blessed to have the finest police force anywhere in the world. That's this police force is keeping us safer all the time. But we still have work to do, in bringing our neighborhoods, our communities closer to the men and women who protect them. And that we are dedicated to. I was elected with a mandate to address this issue. We are addressing it continuously, and today is another example of the progress we're making.
Since day one, Commissioner Bratton has made clear his devotion to the notion that we will protect and respect all the residents of this City. And that has been the watchword of his entire career – the notion of creating that atmosphere of respect and partnership. You see it in an extraordinary number of initiatives that this Commissioner has undertaken in just 11 months.
Body cameras are going to be an important additional step in the reforms that we're undertaking. And I think that step is going to greatly increase the confidence of the people in their relationship with the NYPD.
Before I go on, I'd like to thank so many of my colleagues who are here. First of all, thank and acknowledge someone who has been a great partner in all the work we're doing and the reforms we're undertaking, the Chair of the City Council Public Safety Committee, Vanessa Gibson. Thank you for your leadership.
I want to thank all of the leaders at NYPD who are here with us, who are really playing a crucial role in a number of reforms, including in the implementation of body cameras and the training necessary for the men and women of the force to use them properly, and a whole larger re-training effort that's being undertaken. I want to thank Deputy Commissioner for Information Technology, Jessica Tisch; Deputy Commissioner for Training, Michael Julian. I want to thank Chief Matthew Pontillo, the Commanding Officer of the Risk Management Bureau; Assistant Chief Theresa Shortell; the Commanding Office of this extraordinary facility, this new Police Academy, which I think a number of you are seeing for the first time and is really an incredible step forward for this Department. I want to thank Deputy Inspector Richard Dee, the Executive Officer of the Academy.
Now, we’re launching a pilot program for body cameras in six of our commands. Today, officers, as you saw, are training in the use of body cameras. And what's striking, I think a lot of people in this city will quickly learn, is how light the body cameras are, how easy they are to use, how much they can become a part of the everyday work of the NYPD, while in no way impeding what our officers do to keep us safe. And the demonstration you saw a moment ago points out how quickly we are going to be able to train the men and women of NYPD to use these body cameras effectively. And they are going to give us a lot more information to work with.
One of the things that has typified the success of this Commissioner is his devotion to getting information, to getting data, and using it. To keep people safe, to figure out new and innovative ways to approach this work. This is another way to get information to create transparency, to create accountability.
So the body cameras, again, these will go live in three commands this Friday, this week. Starting on Friday, body cameras will be piloted in three commands. So this is going to become a new and important part of what we do here in this City. The six commands, overall, I mentioned, have been chosen in part because they've had historically a high rate of stop-and-frisk incidents. When we settled the stop-and-frisk case, the Floyd case, earlier this year, part of that settlement involved an agreement to go into this kind of pilot program and to focus it on the areas where there had been a particular need for more clarity, more transparency, more accountability.
We believe this is going to be a very important step forward for our police department, for our city. The pilot's going to tell us a lot. It will proceed over the next few months. It will tell us a lot about how we can use these cameras, how quickly we can implement them on a larger basis. Our goal is, of course, to use these cameras on a broader basis, but first we have to find out how they will work in real conditions in New York City, and figure out the logistics and other dynamics of using them on a wider scale. But this pilot program, I think, is a sign of great hope, of possibility of something that will, not only give us additional information, but really give people greater confidence.
When something happens, to have a video record of it from the police officer's perspective, it's going to help in many, many ways. It's going to improve the work of law enforcement. And God forbid, when something goes wrong, we're going to have a clear understanding of what happened and whatever approaches we need to take as a result. The cameras are just one of a number of reforms that we have instituted that are going to fundamentally change the relationship between police and community and improve our work in public safety in this city.
Just to name them:
One, of course, a great reduction in stops, the ending of the broken policy of overuse of stop-and-frisk. For the first three quarters of this year, the number of stops are down 79%.
Second, reduced arrests for low-level marijuana possession. In the two full weeks since the policy was implemented, low-level marijuana stops, excuse me, low-level marijuana arrests are down more than 60%.
Third, retraining every officer in the NYPD. Again, something this Commissioner understands so well, from having been a force for reform and change for decades. He understands it all begins with how you train the people who do the work. Full-scale retraining of this police force in this extraordinary facility is going to do a lot to improve the way our officers work with community members, improve the way they deal with each interaction, obviously work for a reduction in the use of excessive force.
Fourth, the oversight entities. The reinforced CCRB, the first Inspector General we've ever had here in this city for the NYPD will add additional public confidence and transparency.
Fifth, as we announced yesterday, a major new investment of $130 million in mental health programs. So much of what our officers encounter every day are challenges related to mental health. Emotionally-disturbed individuals who, sadly, end up involved in the criminal justice system when, in fact, their problems are fundamentally health problems. Our officers understand that. We need to give them more support. These investments will help us to get to the root of the problem, by addressing the mental health needs of so many of our people.
All these reforms are under way right now because of this Commissioner and his team – these reforms are happening and happening quickly. One thing I can say about Commissioner Bratton, and I say it with tremendous admiration, no grass grows underneath his feet. He is quick when he sees a problem, to address it. He understands, I think better than anyone in this country, how quickly and effectively reform can be achieved. But, we said all along, it had to go hand-in-hand with efforts to keep us safe, and in fact, make us safer. That's why we're so proud of what we now see today, an overall reduction in crime by 4.4% this year compared to last.
We need to do both at the same time. We need to reduce crime. We need to keep people safe, while at the same time, bringing police and community closer together. I think the body cameras will be an important new element in that deepening relationship between our police and our communities.
Just a moment in Spanish before I call upon Commissioner Bratton.
[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]
With that, it's my great pleasure to call forward Commissioner Bratton. I want to thank him again for the focus and the speed with which he has implemented reforms. I think this is going to be an important day for New York City as we move forward with these body cameras. I want to thank him for his leadership. Commissioner Bratton.
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton: Thank you Mr. Mayor for your generous comments. Following along the theme of thank yous, Letitia James, the Public Advocate, is here. She's been a strong proponent and supporter of this concept. We need that support, along with that of the City Council, when we go forward seeking the funding to fully implement this program over the next year or so.
Secondly, thank you over to my right, your left, the team that put this initiative together, and is putting all of the technology initiatives that the Mayor referenced. A couple of hundred million dollars worth of technology moving the NYPD very quickly into a leadership role in the 21st century. Jessica Tisch is Deputy Commissioner for Information Technology and has just done an absolutely incredible job on this project, as well as many others, and assisted by the able staff that she works with.
Secondly, welcome to the new Police Academy, which we will formally open in January. And we will have you back and give you a full tour of this enormous facility. Seven hundred fifty million of tax dollars to give this department, finally, a first -class training facility. And you saw only one portion of it this morning. The ability to train indoors to create a street scenario. We actually have a subway car in here that we train all officers on with turnstile arrays. It is an incredible facility. Even as we are standing here, the first 600 officers that are going through the three day in-training, in-service training program in the building are beginning that training. And over the next four to five months, we will be training 22,000 police officers here in this building.
In addition, the new class that comes in in January, almost 1,000 new recruits, will also begin their training in this facility. It's large enough to accommodate all of that.
The camera system that we are here to show you today, our pilot program, it’s been several months in its creation. We have benefited from the learning experience at the LAPD, where I first started looking at these camera systems back in 2005, 2006 – when the Brits first began looking at them, the first time the technology became available. We have benefited greatly that the LAPD has been into this almost a year. We once had Jessica and some of her people went out, took a lot of their experience, a lot of their policy experience, and brought it into the pilot program. It literally saved us six months to almost a year of start-up time.
Even as we're here this morning, I have a team flying to London. The Brits, the Metropolitan Police, are about to acquire almost 20,000 cameras for their force. They are an equivalent size agency to us. Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police, was in here two weeks ago, along with Charlie Beck, the Chief of the LAPD. The three departments are going to be engaging in a full-scale exchange program, where we will be sharing ideas on all types of technology, including cameras. The Brits are experimenting with a camera that I am particularly interested in. It actually shows the person that the officer's facing, what the officer is video-taping. So, you're on Candid Camera from the moment the officer starts talking with you. I think that will definitely change behavior very quickly. So, the initiative – just to sum it up, this pilot program will take about three months to allow these 50-some officers to learn for us, built on the L.A. experience. Help us to develop the policies, procedures, understand the equipment that we're testing. This is one of two cameras that we're testing. The other is a Taser product. Half of the precincts, the three precincts, will be doing the Taser product. The other half will be working with the device that you've seen this morning.
We fully expect, after that period of time, that we will put together the budget proposals to move forward to start equipping thousands of our officers with these devices as quickly as possible. This will be happening simultaneously with the initiative to move forward with the 6000 tablets and the 35,000 smartphones that we'll be looking to implement in the department over the next year or so.
A lot happening. A lot of new training, a lot of new technology, a lot of new policies. So, I can't thank Jessie Tisch and her people enough, because, as you can see, there's a lot going on in the organization at the moment. As I mentioned, we're going to endeavor to give you DVDs of what the cameras saw during the exercise that you just recorded, so that you can see the perspective of the officer coming up on the observer's side, and the officer coming on the driver's side, as to what they actually see. And the audio that they're capturing as part of that traffic stop. So, with that, I think Mr. Mayor, that I'll turn it back over to you.
Mayor: Thank you very much. Let me bring up the Public Advocate and thank her. I want to say that Tish James was one of the strongest voices, anywhere in the country really, talking about what cameras could do, in terms of increased transparency and accountability, and bringing police and community together. So, Tish, I know you've tried these before, but, since you've got your own, I know you're a believer. So, I wanted to offer you a chance to speak about this.
NYC Public Advocate Tish James: Thank you Mr. Mayor. Thank you Police Commissioner Bratton. So, there's no question that national events and the recent announcement by President Obama to allocate federal dollars to equip 50,000 more police nationwide with body cameras has changed the national discussion. And police-community relations can only be improved with real, meaningful reform that restores the public's faith in those who are charged with defending them. Since July, I've been calling for the department to outfit officers with body-worn cameras because it's clear that cameras will be able to provide law enforcement with an objective record of police-civilian encounters. Police-worn cameras are the single most effective way to enhance accountability and transparency in policing by providing an objective record of police-civilian encounters. And so we cannot be hesitant to incorporate technology into our public safety practices. From body cameras to bullet-tracking technology.
Not to mention, body-worn cameras would save our city money in settlements. Just last week, it was reported that New York incurred $212 million in legal costs the last fiscal year, settling police-related lawsuits. Two hundred and twelve million dollars. If we add it up over the last five years, we've spent roughly a billion dollars on these claims. It is my hope that uniform officers and others performing patrol work will be required to activate the camera during all law enforcement-related encounters. This includes, as we just witnessed, traffic stops, pedestrian stops, arrests, searches, interviews and pursuits. Once activated, the camera should remain recording until the conclusion of an incident or an encounter.
Now, I recognize that the law has not kept pace with technology. My office will be reviewing local and state laws, particularly as it relates to access, and storage, and privacy and data retention. And I urge the department that they should work with the civil liberty advocates and others to safeguard whatever footage is captured by these cameras. With data to be required for as long as the statute of limitations for filing a claim against the police department, which in New York is about three years.
And it’s cheaper – I think it bears repeating – it's cheaper to buy these cameras than it is to pay the hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuits that our city pays out each year. I again commend Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Bratton and, as well as my friend, Council Member Vanessa Gibson, the Chair of Public Safety. And I look forward to working with the Administration to ensure this pilot program runs efficiently and effectively. Thank you.
Mayor: Thank you. All right, we're going to take questions on topic, and then we'll do some off-topic. Yes, sir.
Question: The Public Advocate spoke pretty heavily about this and the target that [inaudible]. Can you talk about how long [inaudible]? From August to November, how could it happen so quickly? I'm just thinking about the cameras, what will happen if the clips get stored? How long will they stay around?
Mayor: On the technical questions, I'll turn to Deputy Commissioner Tisch and her colleagues. But, on the first point, look, this has been something that's been evolving. First of all, we had the settlement in the Floyd case, in which we readily agreed to a pilot program. The Public Advocate and others urged us to speed up that process and think about the possibility of going farther if the pilot were successful. And the more we've looked at it, the more we've found that we believe that we have a viable option here that could work for the long run.
I remember the first conversations we had at One Police Plaza with Deputy Commissioner Tisch and others, the real issues that the Public Advocate just raised, the data storage, the confidentiality issues, they were daunting at first. Especially, in such a large city with such a large police force. But with each passing week, there's been more and more confidence that we could get this right, and we've looked forward to the day when we could actually go live and try it out on the streets of the city. We're really looking forward to Friday. It's been an evolution, but one that has been very positive. You want to talk about the – I'm sorry Commissioner, go ahead.
Commissioner Bratton: As I mentioned, I first became aware of body cameras in 2005, 2006 when the Metropolitan Police in London began experimenting with them. I was Chief of Police in Los Angeles at that time, and followed it closely during my time in L.A. The technology at that time was still very primitive. Upon my appointment as Commissioner that I stayed involved in policing as a consultant. In February, when I appointed Jessie Tisch Deputy Commissioner of Public Information, I asked her to assemble a team to get out to L.A. and take a look at what they had been doing as a [inaudible] of their initiative.
So, Jessie was out there in March of this year, beginning a dialogue, taking a look at what they're doing. So it's taken a few months to get it up and running, get the policies in place, make sure we had the right cameras. There's a lot of different cameras on the market, so we wanted to make sure they were testing. The Police Foundation came up with the initial $50,000 to go buy these cameras. Saved us a lot of time, probably saved us three to six months in that process. So, it's been, as the Mayor has indicated, an evolutionary process. One over many years, but one that's been accelerated, and the Public Advocate's support for it, the City Council's support. I'm not aware of anybody that's actually opposed to this concept, but that's helpful to facilitate moving these processes forward.
Question: This is both for I guess the Commissioner and the Mayor. You said that there's a 3.8 second delay from when the officer flips the camera on to when it begins to record. Is that also true for the other cameras you're considering? Is there a concern about, things happen fast sometimes when you're doing an arrest, something you might miss something in those 3.8 seconds.
Mayor: I'll pass it to Jessie just by stating the obvious point here is we're training – this is like any other technology. Let me state in the beginning that this is like any other technology. It comes with the attributes. It comes with, it may be changed over time, but this is where the technology has developed to this point. So the training takes into account what it takes to activate. You saw a very conscious decision when to activate as part of the training to prepare officers to be aware of the time they need to get it into position.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Information Technology Jessica Tisch: We're testing two different types of cameras. So the camera that we're testing today does have 3.8 second activation period. The other camera that we are going to be piloting in three commands has three different modes: fully off; buffer mode, which means that it is constantly recording 30 seconds of video; and then, when the officer goes into the third mode, which is activation mode, it saves the audio from the 30-second buffer. So not only do you get the video and audio from the time you turn the camera on, you also get the video from 30 seconds prior to activating the camera. And that's an important thing that we're testing.
Question: Do either of you know of some of the body cameras that record constantly? Like you were out in California, do they have that?
Deputy Commissioner Tisch: We are not – I believe that it's the same product that we're discussing here. It's the constant 30 second buffer.
Question: [inaudible]
Deputy Commissioner Tisch: We're looking at a number of factors. Another important one that the Commissioner has pointed out was battery life. We need these cameras to work for an officer's entire tour, so we are looking at the implications of how much recording drains the battery on the different devices.
Question: Commissioner Bratton, can you explain the balance between the privacy concerns and meeting your stated goal of providing hope for more accountability, because if footage isn't released publicly, how does that achieve your goal of having public . . .
Mayor: I think this is part of why we have a pilot program, to work through those issues. Privacy concerns pervade everything we do in government, so I want to just clarify for folks that we think about that all the time, and obviously legal concerns. But it doesn't stop us from making reforms. I think part of this is seeing how it works in practice and helping us refine that balance. Another reason you do a pilot through a test period, is to understand all of the plusses and minuses. Privacy concerns being one of them. We are a police department, we do conduct investigations. And a lot of those investigations, as you're well aware, have to remain confidential while we move forward with them. We're dealing with a lot of unexplored territory in this issue that the public, I don't think, you in the media, and we in the police profession, and the courts for that matter, don't fully understand. We're going to all learn together. One of the issues that surfaced very quickly is FOIL. Seattle police are dealing with an individual who is FOIL-ing every camera all the time. To the extent that Seattle is thinking of abandoning this initiative because they can't afford it. The idea – you can imagine the department's going to have 30,000 of these things. If some character out there using his FOIL rights wants to see 30,000 every day, it’s, that's reality, that's not making this up, if you will.
Then there's the issue of when does it get turned on, when does it get turned off. There's all types of aspects of that, too. Also there will be liability. The officer, oftentimes engaged in a struggle, we're examining retention devices to make sure it doesn't fall off the uniform. So we're in a new field here, this is not a complete science, as of this time.
Question: Could you just clarify you mentioned you mentioned three things are testing [inaudible].
Mayor: These are simply the brand names, not the device that you're thinking of.
Commissioner Bratton: The three precincts that are here today, P-S-A 2, the 4-0 and the 1-2-0, are using the device that you saw this morning. The three other precincts – and these are the six entities who were identified by the judge in her ruling. That's why we chose those six. Those other three will complete their training by next week. They're equipped with the second device, so we can – and that's the device that Jessie Tisch just described. It's a different type of device, it has a separate battery with a connecting wire to the camera and the camera can be positioned on glasses, can be positioned on a lapel. It has many advanced features, including the ability to buffer and record 30 seconds before the actual encounter is activated by – or the device is activated by the officer.
Question: When will that begin? When will those precincts start?
Commissioner Bratton: They start next week.
Question: Mr. Commissioner, the British camera that you're interested in, do you happen to know the name of the company that makes them?
Commissioner Bratton: Again, I've got a team going over to look at that device, to see if they in fact are using it. My understanding is that there's many of these devices, as you imagine, out in the market. I'm sure after the President announced he wants to buy 50,000 of them, there's a lot more companies racing to put them out on the market. I should point out that, as far as the new frontier here, that the device itself, you can all appreciate this, you all carry smartphones. They're willing to sell you that smartphone for about $250, but what they want is the monthly service fee. The monthly service fee for each of these devices is about $100 a month. Every device we have, you understand, that the preliminary cost may be upwards of $1200 a year for each device. And so it starts getting pretty expensive very quickly. The size of the unit that would have to be available to retrieve video for the courts, the district attorneys, FOIL requests. Good luck to Ferguson with its 50 officers. I'm looking at 35,000 officers, so it's a totally different scale.
Question: Mr. Commissioner, you mentioned the issue of turning the cameras on and off. That lies in the hands of the police officer. Sceptics might say, "Well, they can be selective in when they decide to turn it on, when they decide to turn it off." How can you train for that?
Commissioner: That's actually what we're doing here, training on the existing guidelines and policies that are in place for this pilot program, which will be enhanced through the experiences over the next three months. So that when we go full-scale that we have policies in place that will help to guide the officer as to when do you turn it on, when do you turn it off, when are you required to turn it on, when are you required to have it off. The nature of this is it has to still be left to the officer's discretion and the spontaneity of the moment. Unlike car cameras that many departments have, that can be activated when you turn on the siren or the roof lights, this will have to – the technology today would have to still be manually activated.
Question: If the officers don't follow those guidelines, would they be penalized in some way?
Commissioner Bratton: That would be built into the, when we go to full-scale initiative, that would be built into the policies. Much the same as if they currently violate, or willfully violate, any of the policies that we currently have in place.
Mayor: I just want to emphasize, the Commissioner made a very powerful point. This is a brand new field of endeavor. And, by definition, we're going to take the time to figure it out and make it work. But you saw in the demonstration, the officers get out of the car immediately. It's going to become an instinctive thing, like so many of us have things we've just learned to do instinctively related to technology, they're going to go turn that on while walking over to the vehicle, thus the video running by the time they actually get to talking to the citizen involved.
Question: Commissioner, you mentioned, is there a certain policy that will be in place, you mentioned that it might be at their discretion. Will they be required to start recording the minute they are about to make an arrest or make a stop?
Commissioner Bratton: Policies speak to when they will be required to put the cameras on. Again, those policies are drafts. That's what we're trying to learn from these officers as to their, in actual use, are they in fact useful? One of the policy provisions, based on the recent experiences in the Pink Houses, will be the requirement that those officers, those that are engaged in the housing initiative, as they do vertical patrols, to put the camera on at the beginning of the patrol and then shut it off at the end of the patrol. So there's an example of a recent experience which has now been added into the policy. So, it's like an accordion, it expands as we encounter new issues and new incidents. So we're in our learning process right now – this is not a fait accompli. Similarly, as to these two camera devices, it's not to say these are the cameras we'll eventually use as new technology becomes available, as we seek to learn from other agencies that are working on this. We may go a different direction. This is a huge expenditure of funds, as well as time commitment, so we want to make sure we get it right once we tackle it.
Question: [inaudible] at the end of the shift? What do they do at the end of the shift?
Commissioner Bratton: That's a very good question. There's a docking device that will be in each of these precincts station houses. Each officer will have an individually assigned device. It's not a shared device, like the radios, the walkie talkies they have. At the end of the shifts, they come in, they put the device into the docking device, and then it's uploaded automatically into the filing systems that will retain it, and it will also recharge the device for when they retrieve it again.
Question: [inaudible] precincts start Friday, and what is the mandate at this point? [inaudible]
Commissioner Bratton: I'll let Jessie speak to the broad guidelines, but the three that start this Friday, are the three that you just saw this morning, the group of officers that will be the 1-0-2 over in Staten Island, the 4-0 in the Bronx, and P-S-A 2 over in Brooklyn. In addition to the officers that wear cameras, we also have supervisors from those precincts. The supervisors have to be aware of it, because they're supervising. As well as personnel from Internal Affairs who, if there is an incident, Internal Affairs is going to have to be able to retrieve the information fairly quickly. So, in addition to the officers, there's a supervisory as well as review staff that are also being trained. Jessie, do you want to speak to the broad sense of the policies? Understanding, these policies is just a part of the program, so that what we end up with versus what we start with may be very different.
Deputy Commissioner Tisch: So, what we have now, in the current draft of the policy, is seven different instances in which the officers will be required to turn on the body camera. Those would be all reasonable suspicion stops. Second, enforcement encounters, including first summonsable offenses. Third would be vehicle stops. Fourth would be taking or attempting to take someone into custody, for example, an arrest. Fifth is any use of force incident. Sixth would be an encounter that escalates or becomes adversarial. And, seventh, most recently added, as the Commissioner said, would be vertical or interior patrols.
I should note, it's important to say, that we do say in the policy that the body camera is not required to be activated in those circumstances if it is unsafe or impractical to do so.
Question: What's the light like on the camera for the vertical patrol, for being in staircases, and things like that?
Commissioner Bratton: It's separate, yes.
Question: Which impact are you hoping the camera [inaudible]
Mayor: Look, anything that increases transparency and accountability is, in my view, good in public life. So we have a situation here where we're going to see the officer's perspective. Literally, the officer's perspective on any such event of the type that Jessie just outlined. I think that's powerful. I think that's going to give us a lot more information to work with. And, by the way, I think in many instances, this will be important in the crime-fighting process. Will give us more real-time information to work with. Part of what I emphasized about Commissioner Bratton is the extraordinary success he has had going back to his first tour of duty here was based on recognizing that we were not acknowledging the information that we had. We were not taking stock of it. We were not making decisions based on data. We weren't realizing what was right under our nose. Well, here's another opportunity where we'll have the chance to know exactly what happened in each incident. That's going to tell us something about how to handle that particular dynamic. Also, it's going to teach us how to do things better going forward. I think it'll give a lot of public confidence in the process.
Question: [inaudible] Just wondering how the officers have been responding to it. Have they expressed any concerns about wearing it, or about it falling off?
Commissioner Bratton: Should emphasize, this is like the Los Angeles initiative. It's all volunteer. We have met with all the unions. Unions have not expressed any resistance to the experimental program, so they have not, give all credit to the unions, they have not discouraged their members. We looked for our volunteers and we found what we were looking for. The Los Angeles experience was, within a very short period of time, after the first 50 officers worked with the cameras, another 50 wanted them, that worked in the same district. So they went quickly to 100. What they also found was, quite frequently, officers who did not have cameras were requesting officers who did have cameras to come and back them up. They wanted a situation documented. The experience also was, it began early on, estimating an officer, they work ten-hour tours in L.A., would film an hour, maybe two hours out of a tour of duty. Jessie, I think they're up to, what, about an average of four hours on a tour of duty now? The officers are recording much more comfortably and much more frequently.
Question: Can you tell me how much you expect to budget?
Mayor: I'll just state the obvious. It's a pilot, and the pilot as the Commissioner mentioned, is paid for by the Police Foundation, which we're very appreciative of.
Question: How much is that?
Mayor: Fifty thousand. But where we go from there, is going to be dependent on the pilot. Now, again, we predict roughly three months for the first phase of the pilot. That's going to tell us a lot in time for the upcoming budget process. That will be, obviously, in advance of the executive budget. So that will give us an opportunity to make decisions about what we think is practical to do in the next budget. But, as the Commissioner emphasized, this is a huge endeavor, never before attempted on the scale of New York City, to say the least. It's going to be something we do step-by-step. We have to make sure we're doing it right. To make sure we're accounting for the very real privacy concerns and technological concerns. But what I can safely say is, once we've gotten the first take, we'll then have an opportunity to look at our next budget and determine the place of body cameras in that budget.
Question: Commissioner, you mentioned [inaudible]. What are you planning on doing with [inaudible] storage? Will these pilot program videos [inaudible]?
Commissioner Bratton: [inaudible]
Deputy Commissioner Tisch: You're right. A huge portion of the cost, for sure the greatest portion of the cost associated with this program when it's fully rolled out will be the data retention. There is no way for us to store the volume of data that we will be collecting on premises. Which means we will likely have to use a cloud solution, as the Commissioner was referring to. Which means you pay by the amount of data that you would store. One important thing that we're learning as part of this pilot is, how many hours is an officer going to record per tour? Which will tell me how much data I'm going to be storing per tour and tell me how much I'm paying for cloud services. But I think it is most likely that we will have to go the cloud model, given the rollout that we're anticipating.
Question: [inaudible] ... anybody FOIA'ed the city [inaudible]?
Mayor: That's part of why we're doing a pilot. To understand what the legal issues are, too. We have a lot of lawyers, they'll be looking at this. The Commissioner raised the point that there are some ways that this could create an untenable situation in terms of someone requesting tens of thousands of hours of data when we're trying to simply keep up with it. So, we have to sort that out, and we have to – one of the things that's very clear in FOIL dynamics is confidentiality concerns. There are a number of areas that are exempted vis-a-vis FOIL because of confidentiality. That's all to be determined. What we do know is that we have to get started in our growth. This is a Commissioner who has innovated the use of technology for a quarter century now. But I think he would agree, the only way you find out is to start and to learn from the experience of doing it. Rich?
Question: Is L.A. now fully involved, the whole department? Do they all have cameras? Is there any target? I know you're saying this is an experimental program right now. Is there any target date when you thought it would be all 35,000?
Commissioner Bratton: I’ll ask Jessie speak to L.A. I think L.A. has just finished their one-year-long pilot program. If there's a department that experiments to excess more than the NYPD, it’s the LAPD. They really take their time doing this stuff. One reason I'm sending people to London – London is pretty much ready to go forward with 15 to 20,000 of these devices. So that will give us a sense of a similar-sized agency for what we may be up against. They haven't made a decision, evidently, on what they are going to buy. So a lot of the questions that Jessie would have may be, in fact, answered. I think Jessie, one of your people’s is over there, at this time. So there's so many unknowns in this thing at this moment. L.A. is getting ready to go forward, I think have actually started purchasing devices.
Mayor: We'll take a few more of this, then we'll do some off-topic. But first, to finish up, Rich, we want to see where this can take us. We obviously, if we can find a way to do it right. If we can address the real legal and confidentiality questions. If we can afford it, we would like to go deep into the police force. But I want it to be emphasized that we have to find out how this works. We have to make sure there aren't unintended consequences. Another huge element of public policy is making sure there are not unintended consequences. But we're hopeful, based on what we've seen from the pilots elsewhere, and the response we've gotten here. Obviously, the number of officers ready and willing to participate, we're hopeful that this will be a very important reform going forward, but it's going to have to go in stages.
Question: How important was the incident on Staten Island with Eric Garner, in you guys [inaudible]?
Mayor: Again, I want to remind you. I would ask for a show of hands almost, how many people were at the Brownsville Recreation Center the day we settled the Floyd case, which was when we committed to this pilot program. I'm trying to remember if that was February, March, whatever it was. The point is, we started down the road with that decision to settle the case. What we have found, again, I want to thank, what the Commissioner said was really important. Having the voice of the Public Advocate, the voice of the Chair of the Public Safety Committee, so many other elected leaders saying they believed in this. That consensus was important in saying we're going to really devote even more time and energy to getting this right. But there were very substantial technological issues at the beginning that we had to overcome even to get to a pilot. So, we've been going down this road. It's a road we're committed to, and we think it's a road that's going to, it's a plan that's going to really be deeply felt in our communities. Chris?
Question: Commissioner, in L.A. you mentioned cops were requesting cameras. What do you think that changes the behavior on behalf of the public, on behalf of the cops [inaudible]?
Commissioner Bratton: One of the reasons I'm so interested in this is I attended these conferences when I was in the private sector consulting with departments around the country. Almost universally, what you see is reforms in behavior of officers and reforms in behavior of the public. When the public sees the video, very quickly the complaint goes away. And what we will be doing, is if a complaint is made and we have video documentation, before we ask the officer a question, the officer will review the video. The citizen will get a chance to review the video. And I think in the majority of cases, the complaint disappears. In the sense that, oftentimes, the public is not aware of the policies, procedures, the authority of the officer. Oftentimes, they don't recall their own behavior.
Similarly, officers are going to – experience around the country has been – they are much more conscience of their behavior, language. Mike Julian, who's heading up the Academy, has been focusing early on a lot of attention to language. If we could ban two words out of a cop's mouth, we eliminate about 50 % of the complaints we get. And we’re going to work very hard on that, to do that. Rialto, which is a small department, 80 or 90 officers, has had phenomenal success, has received a lot of the attention because it's one of two departments where every officer has a camera. New Jersey State Police, right next door, asked them about their experience what they went through after their consent decree was put in place, they went to cameras in their cars. The number of complaints dropped tremendously. The verification of the officer's version versus the citizen's version. More frequently, the officer's version was the correct one, versus the citizen.
So it really does provide the ability to deal with the he said-she said issue. That's why I'm so excited about it. It will also diminish – we're already very happy about the very significant decline in citizen complaints this year that we're already seeing. So as we start putting in systems like this camera system, working with the CCRB, the training that Mike Julian going to work on, we anticipate a further fall-off in complaints against the department.
Question: Considering the aftermath that we anticipate, in light of the Eric Garner grand jury decision, will use of the cameras be limited to the three precincts until Friday, or will there be out in the streets if there's any riots?
Mayor: I want to respectfully challenge the question. We do not have anticipation of any particular outcome. We believe, first of all, we don't know what's going to happen in that case. Second, as I said yesterday, I think the NYPD has done an extraordinary job respecting individual's right to protest and that's why these protests have been so peaceful. It has been a very impressive body of work by the NYPD working to make sure that people protested but order was kept. So my anticipation is that that's what will continue. But in terms of the cameras themselves, that's a separate matter. This is, obviously, an initial pilot that's being utilized, again, in the precincts determined by the settlement of the Floyd case. So I just want to emphasize that. There's a pre-existing reason why these were the precincts chosen. All right, let's go to off-topic. Off-topic. Go ahead.
Question: Actually, it's technically on-topic, but . . .
Mayor: That's cheating, but . . .
Question: What effect will the Obama announcement have on funding for cameras? Will New York City seek some of that funding?
Mayor: Well, we'll certainly seek the funding, but it's the nation's idea. I think the President's exactly right to focus on community policing, to focus on the funding for body cameras. Until the funding is actually available, it's still just an idea, but we are very hopeful that money will become available and that New York City will get its rightful share of it. We're obviously going to be one of the national innovators in this area, one of the best places to test the capacity of these cameras. So, hopefully, we will get substantial federal funding. Off-topic, yes?
Question: Did you bring any of the officers to anything involving Eric Garner, any demonstrations [inaudible]?
Commissioner Bratton: Nine of the officers that you just saw there are from the 1-2-0 precinct on Staten Island. So, starting on Friday, they will be doing their general patrol duties on Staten Island on the 1-2-0.
Mayor: Just as part of their general duties.
Commissioner Bratton: Yes, they're not going to be specifically focused on being assigned to demonstrations. They're going to be going about their general patrol duties.
Question: Is it possible they may be [inaudible] during their general patrol [inaudible] conjecture.
Commissioner Bratton: That's possible.
Mayor: Anything's possible. But it's a very small number of people. It’s a pilot program, again, over six commands, with a total of 54 officers. Be careful to make that assumption. I think when they're going about their general duties, they will activate the cameras when appropriate. But I would not put all that together and assume that means they are going to be at a particular location.
Question: Mr. Mayor, the Garner grand jury is meeting today. A decision could happen any moment today to whenever. I wonder is the city ready for whatever could happen. And, again, as we talked about yesterday, your message and the Commissioner's message to people who would come here to protest, especially since many of them may be outside agitators and not people from New York City.
Mayor: First, I believe in the right to peaceful protests. It's part of a democracy. And anyone who has views, as a result of whatever the decision is, if they want to exercise peaceful protests, we welcome that, we respect that. But we also will keep order.
But, the other message, I said, I thought the comments of Eric Garner's son were very pertinent here. He said, anyone who wants to express themselves, do so peacefully. His only son, who lost his father, said, honor my father by doing any protest in a peaceful manner. I thought it was very powerful. He was not just talking about how you go about making changes and reforms. He was talking about his own father as a peaceful man, and honoring his memory by being just as peaceful as that man was.
So, I think the message to everyone here is, let's first of all, not assume one outcome or another. We have a judicial process for a reason. It's a deliberative process. NYPD is absolutely prepared, the city of New York is absolutely prepared for any eventuality. But what I would urge anyone who has a view as a result of the outcome is: Express it peacefully. That's what works in a democracy. The changes we're talking about here are examples of the democratic process actually working. I understand cynicism in modern society. But people have eyes to see, and they can see that as a result of decisions that people made last year, a huge number of things are changing. You're here in the Police Academy. The Police Commissioner of the city of New York talking about making sure there are body cameras for greater accountability and transparency. On top of a host of other reforms that this department is undertaking. That's a result of the decision of the people. And that's a result, by the way, of a lot of peaceful protests. Think about stop-and-frisk. A lot of us were at the silent march several years ago calling for a change in that policy. That policy has been profoundly changed because the people expressed themselves peacefully. That's what will make change in this city and that's worth a bit.
Question: Commissioner, are you ready, and what, again will the NYPD [inaudible].
Commissioner Bratton: Well, I would echo the Mayor’s comments that we have had quite a bit of time to prepare for the events that will unfold here over the next several days. This is a department that is very well experienced in dealing with demonstrations of all sizes. In an average week, we have almost 150 events that we police. As we referenced in yesterday's news conference, the events over the last ten days in the city, that we had a total, I think, 31 arrests in multiple events. We will take very forceful, effective action against those that are committing crimes, particularly vandalism and crimes of violence. But, at the same time, we will seek to allow people to have their First Amendment rights to demonstrate peacefully. Those who would seek to agitate, we would certainly focus efforts on them to ensure that that agitation remains within legal bounds.
Question: If Officer Pantaleo is not indicted, will he still stay on the force? Will there be any discipline for him? What's the plan?
Commissioner Bratton: Protocol is at work. If the District Attorney, not the District Attorney, the grand jury returns a true bill. In other words, if they decide to move forward with charges of some sort, the officer would be brought before the court for arraignment.
If, however, the grand jury decides no true bill, the normal process would be no action. But in this case, a request would be made to the judge to announce that, in fact, there is no true bill, that there would be no charges filed.
The officer is currently on suspension, and will remain on suspension while the department moves forward with its administrative processes. In other words, if there are no criminal charges filed against the officer, the next action, if you will, would be within the department, for us to review if there were any violations of our administrative processes.
And then the third avenue is, of course, the federal government looking at a civil rights violation. And then a fourth course of action is if the family decides to pursue a civil action. So, this process, the grand jury, if you will, is just the first of a possible four different initiatives that might be undertaken.
Mayor: Nikita had her hand up just before I go to you. I think it's clear the U.S. Attorney has been looking at this situation closely. So I think one of the things that would be typical in a case like this is that the U.S. Attorney would pursue whatever investigation that she has already initiated.
Question: But, I'm wondering, too, if any of the officers who were present [inaudible]?
Commissioner Bratton: The administrative investigation by the department has been underway parallel to the criminal investigation. Upon the closure of the criminal investigation, we will seek access to whatever the District Attorney is able to provide to us that will assist us in our administrative investigation. The administrative investigation will look at all elements of the event in terms of the actions of all the officers present. So, the administrative side of it would be a different focus than the criminal side of it. It may involve looking at more personnel. May involve additional avenues of investigation that would not be undertaken on the criminal side.
Question: [inaudible]
Mayor: Let me jump in. First of all, respectfully, we're very aware of the demographics of our city – and a growing Chinese population, a growing Asian population. I would respectfully disagree with any characterization that people are helpless. The commands in that area – I represented that area in the City Council, close to some of the Chinese community and right around it. The 7-2 Precinct, for example, which reaches some of that area, is very focused on the needs of the community. So there's always work to be done whenever we see any crime pattern. Again, this is what this man innovated 20 years ago, was the notion if we see a pattern, creating a strategy to address it. But I have every reason to believe that the precincts involved are focused on keeping the communities safe. All right, great, thanks everyone!
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