Southampton Town Police Bodycam Program To Start Soon

More transparency means more money for police officers as the Southampton Town Police Department nears the rollout of its body camera program.

Last week, Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman announced an agreement had been reached with the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the union that represents the town’s police officers, that will pave the way for every officer to be outfitted with a body camera.

“We’ve been working on this for a year,” Schneiderman said.

Replicating cost of living changes recently made to the Town Civil Service Employees Association contract, he agreed to boost police pay by some $2,500 over the next three years. Officers will get a $1,000 increase in base pay retroactive to this past July 1. Next July 1, base pay goes up by $1,000 and the following year by $500. They will also get an extension on their contract with 2.5 percent increases for two years and a third year extension at 2.65 percent.

Language in the contract was changed so the police chief can modify the uniform and equipment for new technologies. “That will not be a negotiable item,” the supervisor explained. “They will be required to employ technology as directed by their chief.”

As of September 9, the Town Board had yet to ratify the agreement. According to PBA President Eric Breitwieser, the agreement was “overwhelmingly” ratified by the membership in a vote that took place two weeks ago.

He affirmed sitting down with the supervisor about a year ago to discuss the initiative.

“I’m glad we were able to come to an agreement on this. This process is good for everyone,” he said. “The technology of the body cameras are an example of the Town Board and PBA working together for the betterment of the community and the betterment of the PBA.”

Suffolk County Police Officers receive a stipend of $3,000 for using a bodycam, also known as a wearable camera, Body Worn Video ( BWV) or body-worn camera (BWC). Suffolk was one of the last large departments in the country to begin a program. In June, County Executive Steve Bellone announced an initial start-up would commence and go precinct by precinct. Officers in the Seventh Precinct, headquartered in Shirley, would be the first to use the technology.

On the South Fork, police in the Village of Westhampton Beach have been wearing body cameras since 2016; they receive no extra pay for doing so. Chief Steven McManus said that his predecessor, former Chief Trevor Gonce, began the program in the village. McManus changed providers and is pleased with the results so far. The department keeps a bank of 10 units for its 14 officers to share.

Data is stored in the cloud — meaning the video footage will be kept on remote computer servers. There are different state-regulated standards for how long video — from arrests and use of force, all the way to basic tickets — must be kept.

Officers in the predominantly young department, haven’t balked at using the technology, McManus related. “When new officers come in, it’s just standard, part of the job,” he said.

The cameras Village Police use can be activated manually, or by a device in patrol cars. Arrest footage can be immediately sent to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, thanks to a file sharing capability included in the service. When officers come in from a tour, they put their cameras into a docking station that downloads data right to the server. In Westhampton Beach, dashboard video is also continuously downloading, the chief noted.

In Southampton Town, the procedure may be a little different, as not all officers return to headquarters in Hampton Bays at shift’s end. They stop at different relief points depending on which sector of the town the officer is covering. Body cameras may be charged or downloaded at home, a detail that remains to be figured out.

“The PBA stance would be that cameras are secured in a police facility,” the association president said.

Six officers field tested body cameras earlier this year, according to Captain James Kiernan. As officials strive to decide which type works best, continued testing is expected to occur beginning this week.

In a release heralding the initiative, Chief Steven Skrynecki had this to say about the program: “This is yet another step in progressive 21st century policing and exemplifies our desire to work with and foster the best relations with the communities we serve. The BWC program will provide a transparent window to a myriad of police activities, while capturing valuable evidence associated with criminal activity. We are excited to get started, and thank the Town Board for its continued support.”

Body camera use topped the wish list of community members participating in then-Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2020 executive order handed down in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by an officer in the Minneapolis Police Department. Cuomo required each municipality to compile and adopt a reform plan. Local municipalities formed working groups and held listening sessions. Southampton Town officials formed a Community Law Enforcement Review Committee to craft the plan.

Reached by email this week CLERC member Minerva Perez, executive director of Organización Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island commented, “Body cameras should be an essential part of community policing. They should be in place now. Pilot programs have already happened. There is no harm that can come from them. Law enforcement has only expressed positive interest. Whatever is slowing this down as a fully committed and dedicated program needs to be cleared up. It’s not about money or storage of data. Currently, there are many video cameras and drones operated by SHTPD. All of that data is being stored and gathered as well. These are not insurmountable issues.

“Body cameras need to be a priority,” she added.” Let’s get them out there right now. They protect law enforcement from false claims and they allow a degree of accountability to exist in the day-to-day engagement with community.”

Fellow CLERC member and chair of the Town’s Anti-Bias Task Force James Banks, offered praise for the expected implementation of the BWC Program in the town release: “This affirmative and responsive action, providing body cameras for officers, clearly demonstrates the cooperative alliance between the Southampton Town Board, the Southampton Town PBA, the Southampton Anti-Bias Task Force, and ‘We the People’ in bringing the most up-to-date and effective services in Law Enforcement to our community. As Chair of the Anti-Bias Task Force of Southampton, on behalf of the membership, I am proud to announce this fruit of our labor. For, we sought long and hard to make this happen. It is a clear demonstration of how important it is for us citizens to involve ourselves in seeking preventative measures to keep our town safe.”

The British piloted a cam program in 2005. Seven years later in the U.S., the technology began to take hold. In 2014, on the heels of the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner’s death at the hands of a New York City police officer, researchers at the University of South Florida undertook a year-long study of the efficiency of BWCs on policing in collaboration with the Orlando Police Department.

It concluded that for officers wearing the body cameras, use-of-force incidents dropped by 53 percent, civilian complaints dropped by 65 percent, and two in three officers who wore the cameras said they’d want to continue wearing them in the future because it made them better officers.

However, the research, development and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Institute for Justice, noted on its website this year, “A comprehensive review of 70 studies of body-worn cameras use found that the larger body of research on body-worn cameras showed no consistent or no statistically significant effects.”

While cost is cited as a factor, in 2015 then- president Barack Obama sought federal funding to help cover the cost of the technology. The Justice Department offers grants to eligible agencies.

In Westhampton Beach, McManus said the body cameras and storage system were projected to cost the village around $14,000 per year. In Suffolk County, the figure is in excess of $20 million. According to Schneiderman, the cost of equipment is estimated at $480,000, but a 50 percent grant could shave it to $240,000.