Bill Text: NY S03398 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Excludes video camera recordings from cameras worn or used by police from being included as personnel records; makes certain records available to independent review boards investigating allegations of police or law enforcement misconduct.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO CODES [S03398 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S03398-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          3398
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    February 6, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by Sen. BENJAMIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
        AN ACT to amend the civil rights law and the  public  officers  law,  in
          relation  to  excluding  video  camera recordings from cameras worn or
          used by police from being included as personnel records
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Section 50-a of the civil rights law is amended by adding a
     2  new subdivision 5 to read as follows:
     3    5.  a.  The  provisions  of this section shall not apply to recordings
     4  made   of   police   officers,   firefighters,   firefighter/paramedics,
     5  correction  officers  or peace officers in the course of duty, including
     6  recordings made by body cameras worn by an  officer,  dashboard  cameras
     7  placed  on  any  part  of  an officer's motor vehicle, truck, bicycle or
     8  other vehicle, cameras mounted on a taser or other weapon, or any  other
     9  government-operated   recording  device,  or  the  metadata  from  those
    10  recordings.
    11    b. Any recording, as specified in paragraph a of this subdivision  and
    12  released  pursuant  to  section eighty-seven of the public officers law,
    13  shall have all identifying details of all persons in the video redacted,
    14  including but not limited to,  facial  features  and  voices  and  other
    15  personal  information as defined in subdivision seven of section ninety-
    16  two of the public officers law.
    17    c. Nothing in this section shall modify the rights of litigants  in  a
    18  civil or criminal action to access recordings or metadata.
    19    d.  Nothing  in this section shall be construed to disallow recordings
    20  or metadata from being used for disciplinary, hiring or other  personnel
    21  decisions.
    22    e.  Anyone who requests a recording or metadata, as specified in para-
    23  graph a of this subdivision and released pursuant to section eighty-sev-
    24  en of the public officers law, may also request any or  all  records  of
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01365-01-9
        S. 3398                             2
     1  agencies as defined in subdivisions three and four of section eighty-six
     2  of  the  public  officers law, necessary only to identify any officer in
     3  the recording or metadata.
     4    §  2.  The opening paragraph of section 1-a of the civil rights law is
     5  designated subdivision 1 and a new subdivision 2 is  added  to  read  as
     6  follows:
     7    2.  The  term  "recording",  as  used  in  this chapter, shall mean an
     8  original photographic record, disc, tape, audio or video cassette, wire,
     9  film, hard drive, flash drive, memory card or other data storage  device
    10  or  any  other  medium  on which such sounds, images, or both sounds and
    11  images are or can be recorded or otherwise stored, or a copy or  reprod-
    12  uction that duplicates in whole or in part the original.
    13    §  3. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 89 of the public offi-
    14  cers law, as amended by section 11 of part U of chapter 61 of  the  laws
    15  of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
    16    (c) Unless otherwise provided by this article, disclosure shall not be
    17  construed  to  constitute  an  unwarranted  invasion of personal privacy
    18  pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision:
    19    i. when identifying details are deleted or redacted;
    20    ii. when the person to whom a record pertains consents in  writing  to
    21  disclosure;
    22    iii. when upon presenting reasonable proof of identity, a person seeks
    23  access to records pertaining to him or her; or
    24    iv.  when  a record or group of records relates to the right, title or
    25  interest in real property, or relates to the inventory, status or  char-
    26  acteristics  of  real  property,  in which case disclosure and providing
    27  copies of such record or group of records shall not be deemed an  unwar-
    28  ranted  invasion of personal privacy, provided that nothing herein shall
    29  be construed to authorize the disclosure of electronic contact  informa-
    30  tion,  such  as an e-mail address or a social network username, that has
    31  been collected from a taxpayer under section one  hundred  four  of  the
    32  real property tax law.
    33    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.