ALBANY – New York State Attorney General Letitia James is recommending that every police agency in the state deploy body-worn cameras (BWC) after an investigation of a police-involved shooting in Rochester in June of 2021. In that incident, a murder suspect fired a gun and one officer and aimed at a second, with the second officer fatally shooting the suspect.
The findings of the investigation said in part, “At the time of this incident in June 2021, Rochester Police Department (RPD) did not equip its SWAT Team officers with BWCs in an exception to its general policy (other officers involved in the incident did have BWCs). BWCs are critical to transparency, accountability, and safety.” James said that the Office of the Special Investigator recommends that the department equip SWAT teams with BWCs unless a command decision grants an exemption based on the facts of a particular case.
“My office upholds the highest standards of transparency and fairness in every investigation we undertake,” said Attorney General James. “After a thorough review of the facts of this incident, we concluded that officers were justified in their conduct in this case,” adding “In order to ensure continued transparency, it’s imperative that every law enforcement agency in New York is equipped with body-worn cameras, and we urge the Rochester Police Department to outfit every officer, including members of special teams, with this critical tool.”
Locally, the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department has been using body cams since 2020. When told of the recommendations by the AG, Lt. Rich Wilson noted that the usage of the cameras is constantly being evaluated by the department’s administration.
With regard to deploying BWCs to the department’s Emergency Services Unit, similar to a SWAT team, Wilson said the use of BWCs in that unit is being examined. “We are evaluating the effectiveness of the cameras and taking into consideration the tactical handling of situations that require specific skillsets to achieve the desired outcome.” Wilson added that “Certain tactics used by the ESU could jeopardize the safety of the officers on a future mission if the tactics are learned by the very subjects we are investigating.”
