Q&A
Discussion on increasing transparency in NYPD's use of surveillance technology
2:59:38
ยท
4 min
Council Member Yusef Salaam asks panel members about steps to increase transparency in NYPD's use of surveillance technology. Panelists discuss the need for good faith efforts, specific transparency in data retention and criminal investigations, and expanded oversight as NYPD's role grows in other city agencies.
- Advocates call for NYPD to engage in good faith negotiations and responses to information requests
- Panelists highlight the need for more specific explanations, especially regarding data retention after criminal investigations
- Concerns raised about NYPD's expanding role in other city agencies and the need for adapted oversight mechanisms
Yusef Salaam
2:59:38
So I just have a few questions for you all as well.
2:59:43
Advocates often call for greater transparency in the NYPD's use of surveillance technology.
2:59:49
What specific steps do you believe are essential for the NYPD to take in order to increase this transparency?
David Siffert
3:00:01
I I have a couple thoughts.
3:00:06
One is just regular good faith.
3:00:10
I think it's probably not an accident that depending on personnel, for example, you might find that conversations with NYPD can have a very large range of outcomes.
3:00:24
For example, in negotiating potential amendments to this bill, we had a very good faith set of negotiations that were successful.
3:00:32
I've had a lot of conversations with NYPD that was not the case, where it felt like all the negotiations were not in good faith.
3:00:39
I think this often happens in the freedom information context especially, where we get bad faith responses, bad faith litigation.
3:00:46
And I think an internal commitment of the department to engaging with transparency and good faith consistently across the department and over time is going to be important because you can't legislate good faith particularly effectively.
3:01:03
And I think that's one thing we saw with this post act, where that first set of IUPs was not a good faith set of IUPs.
3:01:10
And the reason that we're here and negotiating new legislation is because we need NYPD to be more restrictive in what they can do and not take advantage of any potential language or try to squirm out of things.
3:01:23
So I do think that there's legislation that can be passed to clarify NYPD's obligations, potentially on what gets posted to portals, potentially on staffing requirements for foil departments.
3:01:36
There's all sorts of types of legislation you can pass, but part of it also requires NYPD internally to make decisions to do things in good faith.
Talia Kamran
3:01:46
Just something short is, you know, like the use of the word criminal investigation is or the phrase criminal investigation is often used to kind of act as a band aid over explaining things, being transparent about things.
3:02:02
So for example, on data retention, NYPD was discussing how well we don't actually retain very much data.
3:02:08
The places that we retain data is in criminal investigations and prosecution.
3:02:12
And while that may be completely legitimate, what we don't know is what happens to that data then after a criminal investigation is over or after a criminal case is over.
3:02:22
So it's that kind of specificity and transparency I think is really important.
Cynthia Conti-Cook
3:02:28
I'll just add that as the for example, NYPD announces that deputy inspector Timothy Wilson will be assigned to the Parks Department as we know that many of these community link like city task forces involve the NYPD in the plans and in the operations of more city agencies.
3:02:51
We have to understand that they are being able to circumvent much of the mandatory reporting transparency and accountability mechanisms that this city council has constructed in order to constrain the way that the NYPD surveils polices and harms a lot of communities in the city.
3:03:13
So as the NYPD shape shifts into different types of agencies and becomes a larger and has a larger role in more agencies policing operations of city rules and regs, Also must the mandatory reporting transparency and accountability mechanisms that the city council has placed on the NYPD must also shape shift in order to make sure that the the concerns about how NYPD operates in the city continue to be, publicly debated, and clearly capable of being questioned and seen for what the capacities they have are.