Political Quotes

“I thank the assistant leader, Mr. Clyburn, for his eloquent articulation, both of the history of police violence and oppressive laws and statutes done on the color of State law designed to undermine the constitutional principle of equal protection under the law, as well as for suggesting some of the things that we can consider doing to improve this situation, one of which will be to make sure that we capture police encounters on video in a manner that benefits all involved so we can have a real understanding of what took place during the encounter. New York City has begun an experimental program placing body cameras in a few of the precincts throughout New York City, including the 75th precinct in the east New York community that I represent. In talking to the commander of the precinct, the officers, while many were initially skeptical, eventually embraced the presence of body cameras for a variety of reasons, one of which is that it often defuses an aggressive encounter because the officers, upon approaching a situation when they are wearing a body camera, are now required to say to the individual citizens they are confronting: This confrontation or this exchange is going to be recorded. What the officers have found is that, in many instances, that will defuse a situation that otherwise might go in the other direction. Body cameras are something that should be considered.…”