N.Y. Senator Pushes For Cameras On Cop Handguns

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ― In a flash, a police officer draws a handgun from
its holster. Less than two seconds later, a red laser and bright light
shine at whatever is in the gun barrel's path while a mini-camera
records it all.

That's how mini-cams on police handguns would work under a proposal
gaining support in New York, which would be the first state in the
nation to require the technology. State police were briefed on the
technology and are reviewing it for a possible pilot program, said
Michael Balboni, the state's deputy secretary for public safety.

The device could create a critical visual and audio record of police
shootings for use in court, said state Sen. Eric Adams, a Brooklyn
Democrat and former police officer. He is drumming up support for
testing the cameras with the state police SWAT squad.

Adams said recordings from the $695 cameras couldn't be altered by a
police officer and would quell many questions after controversial
police shootings, like the deaths in New York City of Amadou Diallo in
1999 and Sean Bell in 2006.

"That's definitely a new thing," said Meredith Mays of the
International Association of Chiefs of Police based in Virginia. She
said police have known the technology existed, but no state has
required it.

Some police departments have put cameras on Tasers in the last couple
years, but there is no major national effort by police to seek or
block gun cameras at the federal level, according to the National
Association of Police Organizations, a major lobbyist.

"We believe the state of New York can lead the country," said Adams,
who retired after 21 years as a New York police officer. "There no
longer can be a question mark that lingers after shootings."

Adams, who was never involved in a shooting, said the lights on the
5-ounce camera could be turned off if they would expose the officer to
danger in a dark area. But the camera and optional audio recorder
would remain operating for up to 60 minutes.

He said the images would also help identify suspects who get away. He
wants a pilot program that would allow testing by police at shooting
ranges. That could lead to a law mandating the gun cameras, he said.

Adams knows many police won't embrace the idea at first.
There was no immediate comment from the police department and police
officers union in New York City. Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office said
it will review any legislation that comes from Adams' effort.

But in Albany, there is growing support.

Republican Sen. Dale Volker of Erie County, a former police officer
who would be critical to passing the Democrat-backed bill, already
sought funding for a pilot program. But that $300,000 request to test
the technology in state police SWAT squads was cut in the budget this
spring as part of efforts to close a deficit of about $5 billion.

"You have to understand, particularly in urban areas today, it is not
like the old days when if someone was shot you went before a grand
jury," said Volker. Today, he said, an officer would also face intense
media and community attention.

"It's a different world," he said. "It's not even a matter of right
and wrong a lot of times. It's that people decide very often whatever
you did was probably wrong."

In the Democrat-led Assembly, Adams and his colleagues in the
influential black, Hispanic and Asian caucus like the idea.
The gun camera is made by Legend Technologies, based in the Adirondack
mountains town of Keesville, N.Y.