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NY Attorney General Announces New Policy On Police Body Camera Footage

Attorney General Letitia James told reporters Sunday the new policy will make the release process faster.
Posted at 12:45 PM, Sep 21, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-21 12:45:47-04

"Starting immediately, the Office of Attorney General will now be proactively releasing video footage to the public on our own. We will no longer wait for local authorities to determine when videos should be made available to the public. And we will be doing this with an eye towards making the footage available to the public as quickly as possible."

New York's attorney general says it will now be up to her office to release body camera footage in cases of alleged police misconduct.

Attorney General Letitia James told reporters Sunday the new policy will make the release process faster.

James made the announcement after meeting with the family of Daniel Prude. He died back in March days after an encounter with Rochester police, where officers put a spit bag over his head and pressed his face into the ground.

The police body camera footage of the incident was released several months later. The video sparked protests and calls for the officers involved to be charged.