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NYPD has failed to release police body camera footage on time, audit finds
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Oct 31, 2025
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By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Oct 31, 2025
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The NYPD has failed to meet deadlines for turning over video footage of police encounters, an audit by the comptroller’s office found.
The audit covers police body-worn camera footage requested through New York’s freedom of information law. In many cases between 2020 and 2024, the department did not turn over footage until the person asking for it filed an appeal. Once they appealed, the NYPD turned over in 97% of cases, the review found.
The NYPD has been using body-worn cameras since about 2019 to increase transparency in the department. They were introduced after the city settled a federal civil case over the unlawful stop-and-frisk policies during former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration. All officers on patrol are required to wear the cameras and activate them during any police action. Failing to turn the footage over to the public undermines the cameras' intended purpose, Comptroller Brad Lander said.
“With proper oversight, body-worn cameras are a tool for gathering evidence, strengthening accountability, improving policing practices, and building trust. Without proper oversight, it’s just a hunk of metal,” Lander said in a statement.
The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a department official responded to the audit by calling its methodology and conclusions into question.
The audit found that the department did not respond to 85% of 5,427 requests submitted between 2020 and 2024 within 25 business days, which the audit says is a standard timeline city agencies try to adhere to.
The department also blew past its internal goal of granting or denying a request within 95 business days in more than half of cases in that time period, according to the report. On average, the department took 133 business days to grant or deny a request, the audit found.
Nearly all of the requests that were denied were later granted after the requester appealed, according to the audit. The NYPD said the reason so many appeals were granted is that requesters appealed before the department decided whether to release footage, the report says.
The audit also found the department wasn’t checking whether officers turned on their cameras as required. Each month, sergeants from precincts across the city are supposed to randomly select five body-worn camera videos, review them and complete an inspection worksheet about the footage.
As part of the audit, investigators requested those worksheets from 11 randomly selected precincts in certain months between 2020 and 2024. The NYPD could not provide worksheets for more than half of the covered months, the audit found.
The review also found that of 7,797 videos on file, officers did not follow the correct videotaping procedure in about 18% of cases. In those instances, they either turned on cameras too late or stopped the recording too early during an encounter, the report says.
NYPD pushback
After the audit, the NYPD agreed to several recommendations to improve transparency and oversight of body-worn camera footage, the report stated.
The recommendations the department agreed to included increasing staffing at its Legal Bureau to respond to FOIL requests and investigate lower activation rates at certain precincts in the city, according to the audit.
In a response to the audit, Kristine M. Ryan, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of management and budget, pointed out what she said are many flaws in the review.
Ryan said the audit included data from 2020, which she argued was an “unprecedented year” for the city because of social unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Using 2020 data as a reference for any sort of trend analysis is methodologically flawed,” she wrote.
The response also takes issue with the notion that 25 business days is a standard time period for a city agency to respond to a FOIL request, noting the 95-day timeframe is one that has been upheld in court.
Tagged
new york city
public safety
Ben Feuerherd
Ben Feuerherd covers public safety and policing for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered federal courts for The New York Post and The Messenger. His work has also appeared in POLITICO, the Daily Beast and NBC New York. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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