Tag Archives: Body Cameras

U.S. immigration agents to pilot use of body-worn cameras

By Mica Rosenberg

(Reuters) – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is rolling out a pilot program to test the feasibility of requiring immigration agents to wear body cameras, a senior agency official said on Tuesday, a move that could aid criminal investigations as well increase oversight of agents’ activities.

The cameras are expected to be rolled out first only among specialized teams in ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division to around 55 agents in offices in New York City, Newark, New Jersey and Houston, Texas, the official told reporters.

The HSI officers, who target transnational criminal organizations for money laundering, drug trafficking, smuggling, terrorism and other crimes, would use the cameras only in pre-planned operations.

The official said the pilot program will be expanded to immigration agents at ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division in the near future, without giving a specific date. The agency said the timing is dependent on negotiations with the division’s union.

Earlier this year, Reuters reported on a plan to equip thousands of border agents of U.S. Customs and Border Protection with body-worn cameras as well.

Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union have called on expanded use of the cameras in law enforcement to provide a record of potential abuses. ICE has been criticized by some advocates for some of its agents’ tactics arresting immigrants in the country illegally.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose agency oversees ICE, said in a statement that with the pilot, the agency “is making an important statement that transparency and accountability are essential components of our ability to fulfill our law enforcement mission and keep communities safe.”

Under U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat who promised a more humane approach to immigration enforcement than his hardline predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, ICE arrests have dropped, with the agency focusing on those who pose national security or public safety risks.

The senior official said the pilot program would be “test driving” the cameras to assess their operational utility and financial costs.

The footage collected would be subject to freedom of information laws and could also potentially be used in criminal prosecutions.

The official said the cameras, which will be mounted on agents’ vests, shirts or helmets, would be provided by Axon Enterprises Inc, which also contracted to outfit the border agents.

The company declined to comment on the pilot program.

(Reporting by Mica Rosenberg; Editing by Dan Grebler)

U.S. to outfit border agents with body cameras in major oversight move

By Ted Hesson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States will require thousands of border agents to wear body cameras, according to three officials and government documents, a major operational change that could increase oversight of agents and also help capture criminal activity.

The cameras are expected to be rolled out in parts of Texas and New Mexico during the summer and expanded in the fall and winter to Arizona, California, and Texas’ busy Rio Grande Valley, which all border Mexico, according to a recent government assessment of how the devices could impact privacy. Agents in Vermont along the U.S. border with Canada will also be equipped with cameras, the assessment said.

U.S. border authorities plan to deploy a total of 7,500 body-worn cameras, with 6,000 in the field by the end of the year, a border agency official told Reuters.

Pro-immigrant activists will likely welcome the increased oversight that cameras could bring to an agency some have criticized for excessive use of force and institutional racism. But a union for border patrol agents also supports cameras, saying they could assist criminal investigations and help show that agents act professionally.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups have called on border patrol agents to use the cameras to improve accountability in the wake of several high-profile fatal shootings by law enforcement over the past decade.

Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, stressed that agents should have access to the footage, including when an agent is accused of wrongdoing.

Border Patrol’s parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), is the largest law enforcement agency in the United States, which presents a unique challenge for video footage collection and storage.

Recordings of illegal activity, use of force or agent misconduct could be used as evidence in investigations or prosecutions, the privacy assessment said.

The cameras could offer new insight into the policing of the southern border, where migrant arrests have risen to 20-year highs in recent months and encounters sometimes take place in remote areas.

In cases where footage could be used as evidence in a criminal case, it could be retained for up to 75 years, according to the privacy assessment. Footage that does not have value as evidence would be destroyed within 180 days.

After a bipartisan group of lawmakers spearheaded efforts to secure funding for bodycams, CBP awarded a total of about $21 million to Axon Enterprises Inc. for body cameras and to connect the cameras to a cloud-based storage system, according to the agency official.

The devices are the size of a deck of playing cards and will be affixed to the front of agents’ uniforms, the official said.

Axon declined to comment on the rollout.

CBP conducted a small pilot of body cameras in 2015, but ultimately opted not to deploy them then.

An agency assessment at the time said the cameras would likely reduce the use of physical force on the job, but cited a number of reasons not to adopt the devices, including cost and agent morale.

Gil Kerlikowske, who was CBP commissioner at the time, said another consideration was that the cameras “did not hold up particularly well” in the field, where they could be knocked off in the brush or mucked up with dust and dirt.

Body cameras have become more commonplace since the 2015 effort. The U.S. Department of Justice said in June that its agents would be required to wear cameras when serving search and arrest warrants.

Kerlikowske said many law enforcement officers support the idea, too.

“There are now police officers who won’t go on the street without their body camera,” he said. “They want that video image.”

(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington, editing by Ross Colvin, Aurora Ellis, Mica Rosenberg and Diane Craft)

Minneapolis orders stricter police body-camera rules after fatal shooting

Justine Damond, also known as Justine Ruszczyk, from Sydney, is seen in this 2015 photo released by Stephen Govel Photography in New York, U.S., on July 17, 2017. Stephen Govel/Stephen Govel Photography/Handout via REUTERS

By Chris Kenning

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Minneapolis officials set stricter police body camera rules on Wednesday, more than a week after officers failed to activate cameras during the fatal police shooting of an Australian woman.

Mayor Betsy Hodges and acting Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said the new policy will require officers to turn on cameras anytime they are dispatched to a call or undertake any self-initiated activity. The new policy takes effect on Saturday.

“What good is a camera if it is not being used when it may be needed the most?” said Arradondo, who acknowledged that some officers were not using the cameras frequently enough.

Justine Damond was shot shortly before midnight on July 15 by an officer responding to an emergency call she had placed about a possible assault in her residential neighborhood. The shooting sparked outrage in Australia and Minnesota.

Authorities said officer Mohamed Noor shot the 40-year-old woman through the window as she approached his patrol car. Neither his nor his partner’s body camera were on, nor was dashboard camera activated.

The incident, still under investigation, led Hodges to request the resignation of the city’s police chief.

Minneapolis rolled out cameras late last year with use guidelines calling for officers to activate them “when safe” in a variety of situations including traffic stops, emergency responses, vehicle pursuits, searches and before any use of force.

Arradondo said supervisors were being trained to audit the use of the cameras.

“Many of our officers are using our cameras a lot,” he said. But some officers, he said, are failing to use them enough.

The new policy will still include some exceptions, but will reduce the amount of discretion officers have in using them, officials said.

The technology has been adopted by police departments across the country, increasing sharply after the 2014 police shooting of a teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, sparked demonstrations over police treatment of minorities.

At least 14 people were killed in the United States by officers wearing body cams that were either not turned on or inoperative since 2014, the American Civil Liberties Union said in December. Even so, that was a tiny fraction of police-involved shootings.

Jim Pasco, a senior adviser with the Fraternal Order of Police, said recently that noncompliance among police was not widespread nationally. A Pew Research Center report earlier this year found 66 percent of police supported the use of body cameras.

(Reporting by Chris Kenning; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

Baltimore to review about 100 cases of officers in suspected drug planting

A still image captured from police body camera video appears to show a Baltimore police officer retrieving a small plastic bag in a trash-strewn yard which was placed earlier by the officer according to the Maryland Office of the Public Defender in this image released in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. on July 19, 2017. Courtesy Baltimore Police Department/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) – Prosecutors will review about 100 cases involving three Baltimore police officers who took part in an arrest captured on body camera video that appears to show them planting drugs, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said on Thursday.

Charges against the suspect were dropped last week after a review of the video released by the public defender’s office. A minute-long video shows an officer placing a small plastic bag in a trash-strewn yard as two colleagues look on.

All three officers then walk to a sidewalk. An officer returns to the yard and retrieves the bag filled with capsules, which an arrest report said contained heroin powder.

The team of prosecutors will review evidence provided in about 100 cases involving the three officers, who have not been formally identified, she said.

“This is a matter of public safety and we are laser-focused on this particular incident,” Mosby said in a statement.

The union for Baltimore City police was not immediately available for comment.

The incident was another black eye for a police department under a U.S. Justice Department consent decree to overhaul operations that includes changes in training and the use of force after officers were found to have routinely harassed minorities.

The decree followed Justice Department findings that Baltimore’s 2,600-member police department regularly violated African-Americans’ civil rights, including through strip searches, unlawful stops and excessive force.

Close to two-thirds of Baltimore’s roughly 615,000 residents are African-American.

A public defender alerted prosecutors about the video a few days before the case was set to go to trial last week, Mosby said. Police were also investigating the incident.

One officer seen in the video has been suspended, while the two others have been placed on administrative duty, the Baltimore Police Department said on Wednesday. [nL1N1KB00J]

The department showed other videos on Wednesday, recorded the same day as the footage released by the public defender, that it said raised the possibility the officer genuinely discovered the drugs at the scene but inappropriately chose to stage and film a recreation of the discovery.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Editing by Daniel Wallis and David Gregorio)

Minnesota mystery: Why were cameras off during police shooting?

Don Damond is comforted by his son Zach Damond as he speaks to the media about his fiance, Justine Damond who was fatally shot by Minneapolis police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. REUTERS/Adam Bettcher

By Chris Kenning

(Reuters) – Amid public outrage over the fatal shooting of an Australian woman by Minneapolis police, the most persistent question was why officers did not turn on body cameras that could have captured what happened.

Experts on police procedure said the most common reasons for failure to turn on cameras nationally were officers’ forgetting or getting caught by surprise, not trying to hide something. The American Civil Liberties Union said the case showed a need for better compliance and training.

Justine Damond, who was originally from Sydney, was shot around midnight on Saturday by an officer responding to an emergency call she had placed about a possible assault behind her house in a quiet residential neighborhood.

Authorities said the officer shot the 40-year-old woman through the window as she approached his patrol car. Neither the officer’s body camera nor a dashboard camera were turned on, depriving authorities of potential evidence.

“There’s a knee jerk assumption that something nefarious is occurring” when cameras are not turned on, said spokesman Steve Tuttle of Axon Enterprise Inc, a leading maker of body cameras formerly called Taser International and the manufacturer of the equipment used in Minneapolis.

Malfunctions are rare, but when police are facing lethal danger, an officer is “not going to call time out” to turn on the camera, he said.

Officers currently must press a button to enable the cameras to record video and audio, and Axon will soon release a sensor that will trigger cameras to turn on when a gun is taken from its holster, he said.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which reviews shootings involving the police in Minneapolis, is seeking any civilian video of the incident. It said the officer who shot Damond, who has been identified Mohamed Noor, and the officer in the patrol car with him, Matthew Harrity, have been placed on administrative leave.

Police have declined comment on questions about the cameras, pending an investigation. The lack of video footage has led the city’s mayor to call for a probe, while the American Civil Liberties Union suggested the police violated policy by failing to switch on the cameras.

Advocates said that when used, cameras protect both officers and the public and in some cases have reduced use of force and complaints against police.

“They should be on, every time,” said Steve Soboroff, a member of the Los Angeles Police Commission. Rigorous training and accountability is needed to ensure compliance, especially when police officers are under pressure.

USE CAMERAS ‘WHEN SAFE,’ GUIDELINES SAY

The technology has been adopted by police departments across the country since 2014 after a police shooting of a Missouri teenager sparked nationwide demonstrations over police treatment of minorities. Video evidence might have clarified whether the officer involved in that incident was justified in the shooting.

Minneapolis rolled out cameras late last year, and the department adopted guidelines calling for officers to activate them “when safe” in a variety of situations including traffic stops, emergency responses, vehicle pursuits, searches and before any use of force or contact with citizens.

There is only spotty national evidence available about how frequently police fail to turn on cameras. An Arizona State University study in 2014 found fewer than half of police incidents in Phoenix were recorded.

At least 14 people were killed by officers wearing body cams that were either not turned on or inoperative since 2014, the ACLU said in December. Even so, that was a tiny fraction of police-involved shootings.

Jim Pasco, a senior adviser with the Fraternal Order of Police, said non-compliance among police is not widespread, and a Pew Research Center report earlier this year found 66 percent of police supported the use of body cameras.

ACLU analyst Jay Stanley pointed to a KSTP-TV report based on Minneapolis police data showing officers on average uploaded no more than 6.1 hours of camera footage in March.

The department on Tuesday said the data was part of a study under way and that no conclusions had been reached.

Despite legitimate circumstances when police cannot turn on cameras, the Minneapolis shooting illustrates the need to boost training and compliance.

“Training is critical,” said Samuel Walker, a professor emeritus of criminal justice at the University of Omaha. “This is a relatively new experiment, and there is a learning curve.”

(Reporting by Chris Kenning in Chicago,; additional reporting by Eric Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Frank McGurty and Cynthia Osterman)

Australian government demands answers on Minneapolis police shooting

Justine Damond, also known as Justine Ruszczyk, from Sydney, is seen in this 2015 photo released by Stephen Govel Photography in New York, U.S., on July 17, 2017. Courtesy Stephen Govel/Stephen Govel Photography/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the fatal shooting of an Australian woman by a Minneapolis police officer over the weekend “shocking” and “inexplicable” and said his diplomats were seeking answers from U.S. authorities.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on Tuesday confirmed details of the shooting of Sydney native Justine Damond that have been reported in media accounts and also confirmed the identities of the two police officers involved in the incident.

Damond died of a single gunshot wound to the abdomen, fired through an open window of the patrol car, after two police officers responded to a call she made of a possible assault in her neighborhood, the agency said.

Turnbull said in a television interview on Wednesday morning in Australia (Tuesday evening in the United States) that he and the Australian consul-general in Chicago were seeking answers.

“How can a woman out in the street in her pajamas seeking assistance be shot like that?” the prime minister said in the interview with Nine Network. “It is a shocking killing, and yes, we are demanding answers on behalf of her family.”

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which reviews shootings involving Minneapolis police, was seeking civilian video of the incident.

The incident unfolded as Officers Mohamed Noor and Matthew Harrity were driving through an alley near where the shooting occurred, searching for a suspect, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said.

At one point, Harrity told investigators, he was startled by a loud sound near the patrol car. Immediately afterward, Damond approached the driver’s side of the squad car and Noor, who was in the passenger seat, fired his weapon through the open driver’s-side window, striking Noor, the agency said.

The agency said Noor, with the police department for 21 months, and Harrity, a one-year veteran, have been placed on administrative leave.

State investigators said agents interviewed Harrity on Tuesday. They said Noor has declined to be interviewed, adding that Noor’s attorney did not provide information on when or if the officer would be available for questioning.

Noor’s lawyer, Tom Plunkett, did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement released earlier on Tuesday, Plunkett said that Noor extends his condolences to Damond’s family.

Damond’s family joined with friends and others in a silent dawn vigil on Sydney’s Freshwater Beach, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. A didgeridoo was played and a single rose thrown into the ocean.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota have questioned why the officers did not have their body cameras and vehicle dashboard camera turned on at the time of the incident.

Keith Ellison, a Democratic member of Congress whose district includes Minneapolis, said Damond’s death stemmed from a “systemic problem.”

“We need to confront the reality of so many unarmed people killed by the same officers who swear an oath to protect us,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. “Justine’s death shows no one should assume ‘officer-involved shootings’ only happen in a certain part of town or to certain kinds of people.”

Damond, who was also known as Justine Ruszczyk, had taken the name of her fiance, Don Damond, ahead of their wedding. They were due to be married in August, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper. She owned a meditation and life-coaching company, according to her personal website.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee, Jonathan Allen in New York, Jamie Freed in Sydney, and Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Leslie Adler, Toni Reinhold)

Minneapolis police shooting of Australian woman sparks questions about body cameras

Justine Damond, also known as Justine Ruszczyk, from Sydney, is seen in this 2015 photo released by Stephen Govel Photography in New York, U.S., on July 17, 2017. Courtesy Stephen Govel/Stephen Govel Photography/Handout via REUTERS

By Todd Melby

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – Authorities and activists on Monday questioned why Minneapolis police who fatally shot an Australian woman over the weekend did not have their body cameras turned on during the incident.

Justine Damond’s American fiance also wondered about the details of how she was shot. She had called the police to report a suspected sexual assault near her home, fiance Don Damond told reporters outside the home.

“We lost the dearest of people and we are desperate for information,” Damond said. “Piecing together Justine’s last moments before the homicide would be a small comfort as we grieve this tragedy.”

Also known as Justine Ruszczyk, she had already taken Damond’s last name.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota called for answers on why the two responding officers failed to turn on their body cameras when they arrived at Damond’s home in a quiet, upper-middle-class neighborhood shortly before midnight on Saturday.

Police shot Damond, originally from Sydney, through the door of their patrol car as she approached them in an alley near her home, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported, citing three unnamed sources.

Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau called Damond’s death “tragic” in a statement on Monday and promised a “transparent” investigation.

Damond’s father, John Ruszczyk, told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday that her death was “our worst nightmare”.

“Justine was a beacon to all of us. We only ask that the light of justice shine down on the circumstances of her death,” he said.

OFFICER IMMIGRATED FROM SOMALIA

The officer who shot Damond was identified by the Minneapolis Star Tribune and other local media as Mohamed Noor.

Noor’s lawyer, Tom Plunkett, said in a statement that Noor extends his condolences to Damond’s family. The statement did not describe Noor’s role in the shooting, and authorities have not confirmed the identities of the officers involved.

“He came to the United States at a young age and is thankful to have had so many opportunities,” Plunkett said of Noor, who was previously described by the city as a native of Somalia.

“The current environment for police is difficult, but Officer Noor accepts this as part of his calling. We would like to say more and will in the future.”

Hundreds took to the streets of Minneapolis on Sunday to protest Damond’s shooting.

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), which reviews shootings involving the police in Minneapolis, said the dashboard camera in the officers’ patrol car did not capture the shooting. The BCA is seeking any civilian video of the incident.

The ACLU of Minnesota called for the release of the audio from Damond’s 911 call, along with any audio from the officers’ dash camera. The group’s interim executive director, Teresa Nelson, said the officers failed to obey department rules by not having their body cameras on.

Damond owned a meditation and life-coaching company, according to her personal website. Media gave her age as 40.

Sarah Darmody, who said in a Facebook post that she had been friends with Damond since high school in Sydney, blamed the shooting on the gun laws in the United States, which has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world.

“There is no good reason and there are no other countries in the world where people would rather arm everyone than stop this happening,” Darmody wrote. “I’m so sad and so angry I can’t even breathe.”

Both officers have been placed on administrative leave, the state BCA said. Minneapolis police referred further questions about the incident to the BCA.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen and Chris Michaud in New York and James Redmayne in Sydney, writing by Gina Cherelus; Editing by David Gregorio, Cynthia Osterman and Neil Fullick)

Police videos show chaotic scenes of Florida nightclub massacre

FILE PHOTO - Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials walk through the parking lot of the Pulse gay night club, the site of a mass shooting days earlier, in Orlando, Florida, U.S. on June 15, 2016. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo

(Reuters) – Police body camera videos of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history were released by a Florida newspaper on Wednesday, showing harrowing scenes of officers rushing into the Orlando nightclub where 49 people were killed in June 2016.

Among the 15 hours of videos obtained through a public records request by the Orlando Sentinel is a scene of officers firing toward gunman Omar Mateen and one officer yelling: “Come out with your hands up or you will die.”

Portions of the videos were posted on the newspaper’s website. Footage of those who died was not shown.

As police neared the cornered gunman, one officer said a prayer to himself: “Lord Jesus, watch over me,” the paper reported.

Mateen, a 29-year-old who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State militant group, opened fire inside Pulse, a gay nightclub, on June 12, 2016, before he was killed by police after a three-hour standoff. In addition to those killed, at least 58 people were injured.

The videos released to the newspaper show officers arriving on the scene, taking weapons out of their vehicles and entering the club through a shattered window.

People in the club can be seen fleeing, with officers telling them to keep their hands up and directing them to safety.

A body camera on Orlando policeman Graham Cage shows an officer leading a victim out of a club bathroom and down a hallway, the paper said.

“Hands up, both hands, put your hands up,” the officer says off-camera. “Follow the sound of my voice. Come this way.”

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Nevada likely to become second state to require police body cameras

FILE PHOTO: A mannequin dressed as a police officer to show off a body camera system is shown on display at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in San Diego, California, U.S. on October 17, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

By Tom James

(Reuters) – Police officers in the state of Nevada may soon be required to wear body cameras under a measure that was sent on Thursday to Governor Brian Sandoval for his signature.

The proposal, approved by the state legislature, would make Nevada the second state in the in the country to mandate that state and local police use body cameras. North Carolina passed a similar requirement in 2015.

“Providing every officer with a body camera protects officers while they’re on the job and engenders trust among the public,” state Senator Aaron Ford, the bill’s sponsor, said in an emailed statement on Thursday.

The bill is the latest initiative by Nevada Democrats after voters in November gave them back legislative majorities they had held since 2009 but lost for the 2015-2016 term.

Earlier this month, lawmakers passed a bill banning sexual orientation or gender conversion therapy for minors, signed by Sandoval on Wednesday, and advanced two proposals that would be firsts in the United States: one would allow marijuana use in public establishments and another would set price controls on diabetes drugs.

The body camera requirement expands existing state rules, which require their use by the Nevada Highway Patrol, and mandates that the devices be turned on any time police investigate a crime or stop a citizen.

Holly Welborn, policy director for the Nevada branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that while the organization had opposed previous iterations of the rule over privacy and transparency concerns, it supported this year’s version after safeguards were strengthened.

A spokeswoman for Sandoval, Mari St. Martin, said it was Sandoval’s policy not to comment on pending legislation, but confirmed that he had approved the earlier requirement on the highway patrol without objection.

(Reporting by Tom James; Editing by Patrick Enright)

New York police body camera program needs changes: civil rights lawyers

FILE PHOTO - A police body camera is seen on an officer during a news conference on the pilot program of body cameras involving 60 NYPD officers dubbed 'Big Brother' at the NYPD police academy in the Queens borough of New York, December 3, 2014. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Civil rights lawyers on Wednesday demanded changes to a pilot program for New York City police to wear body cameras, saying it does not ensure that officers are held properly accountable for how they treat people.

The court-ordered program, whose details were approved by a federal monitor last week, was intended to precede a rollout of the cameras to all patrol officers by the end of 2019.

That came after the New York Police Department’s “stop-and-frisk” methods, faulted by critics as a means to conduct racial profiling, were declared unconstitutional.

But lawyers including Darius Charney of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Angel Harris of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund said the year-long pilot program was vague about when officers must use cameras.

In a letter to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan, they said officers should be required to turn cameras on during “forcible” stops, encounters where people are free to walk away and when they are “generally” looking out for crime.

The lawyers also said the program should clarify when officers must alert people about the cameras, and that officers cannot review videos until after writing their reports or making statements, so the footage does not color their recollections.

“Details of the policy as approved by the monitor turn the cameras from an accountability tool into a tool for surveilling and criminalizing New Yorkers,” the Center for Constitutional Rights said in a statement.

Nick Paolucci, a spokesman for the city’s law department, said: “We are reviewing the plaintiffs’ submission and will respond in due course.”

The stop-and-frisk litigation helped start the body camera program in New York City, which joined cities such as Chicago and Washington, D.C., that also adopted the devices.

Such efforts were launched amid nationwide concerns about the use of excessive force by police, especially against black and Hispanic people.

The monitor, Peter Zimroth, on April 11 urged Torres to let the program go ahead without further court intervention. But the civil rights lawyers disagreed, citing a risk that police unions may try to block it in court.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat who has had an uneven relationship with the police department, favors equipping patrol officers with body cameras. He is seeking re-election in November.

The cases are Floyd v City of New York, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-01034; and Davis v City of New York in the same court, No. 10-00699.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Trott)