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Council pushing bill to give NYPD watchdogs real-time access to bodycam footage
By
Ryan Kost
Published Nov 15, 2025
Modified Nov 15, 2025
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Andrew Burton/Getty Images
By
Ryan Kost
Published Nov 15, 2025
Modified Nov 15, 2025
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Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is looking to pass a bill that would require the NYPD to grant the city's police watchdog agency direct access to all footage captured by body-worn cameras.
Under the proposed law, the department would have to give the Civilian Complaint Review Board real-time access to the servers hosting the footage “comparable to that granted to the department’s internal affairs bureau.”
It further stipulates that remote users be able to search for specific footage by keywords, dates, locations and officers. Police advocates say the bill is an overreach that will deter officers from performing their duties and discourage recruitment.
The bill comes at a moment when the NYPD is facing criticism for failing to fulfill public records requests for body camera footage in a timely manner. An audit by the city comptroller's office found that the department didn’t respond to 85% of 5,427 of Freedom of Information requests submitted between 2020 and 2024 within five weeks.
Turnaround time for Civilian Complaint Review Board requests was faster — 7 days in the first half of 2025 according to the board’s data.
Speaker Adams has been pushing a similar measure for years. While speaking to the Council in 2023, she noted that the city’s “current policies on access to body-worn camera footage have unfortunately fallen short of prioritizing public transparency.”
“Not only has the public in our city lacked adequate access to footage,” she added at the time, “but the entities responsible for oversight of the NYPD have also faced obstacles to accessing it, undermining their ability to fulfill statutory oversight duties.”
But the union representing rank and file officers says the bill is an unfair overreach into the day-to-day functioning of officers who have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
“Bills like this are a major reason cops are quitting in droves," said Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry. "Who wants to work in a system where people who don’t value or understand your work are given direct, real-time access to second-guess your every move?"
He warned the bill could have a chilling effect on recruitment in a department that is already struggling to fill its ranks.
"City Councilmembers need to understand that every time they support a bill like this, they’re making their constituents less safe because more cops will head out the door," he said.
A hearing on the bill is set for Wednesday.
Correction: A previous version of this story mischaracterized the NYPD's response time for records requests from the CCRB.
Tagged
public safety
Ryan Kost
Ryan Kost is a reporter on the day-of news desk, where he covers breaking news and writes enterprise stories about jails, courts, prosecutors and government accountability. His work focuses on the public institutions that shape life in New York. Before joining the newsroom, he lead a multi-part investigation with Columbia Journalism Investigations and New York Focus into how New York prosecutors handle wrongful conviction claims. He's also been a staff writer at The San Francisco Chronicle, The Associated Press and The Oregonian. Got a tip? Signal: ryankost.20
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