NYPD blues: Cops ignored 93 percent of surveillance law rules

NYPD blues: Cops ignored 93 percent of surveillance law rules

There is some contradiction in this report. The author appears to have take the accusations of the watchdog organization Surveillance Oversight Technology Project (STOP) who are very critical of the NYPD, stating.

Cahn from STOP took issue with that statement. "The NYPD continues to systematically hide the billions it spends on unproven and biased surveillance technology," he said in an email to The Register. "It's bad when the Department wastes money that puts New Yorkers in harm's way and shreds the Constitution, but it’s even worse when they lie about it.

And while the statistic about what recommendations made by the office of the Police Inspector General are actually being applied are not definitive, it is clear that the NYPD is not "playing well" with the oversight.

Asked to comment on the DOI OIG report, a spokesperson for the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information (DCPI) told The Register, "The role of the city's Office of Inspector General is important in city government and the NYPD remains committed to working collaboratively with the office as we move forward in improving all of the department's programs, policies and operations and practices.

...

The DCPI spokesperson said that the NYPD has implemented or accepted nearly 75 percent of DOI's recommendations since 2015 and continued to work with DOI to improve police services.

Indeed, the report says the NYPD has rejected around 25 percent of DOI recommendations over the past eight years but it has only fully accepted 58.5 percent. The remainder consists of partially implemented (10.5 percent), accepted in principle (3.5 percent), and under consideration (2 percent).

How that works out to rejecting 93 percent of suggested actions or policies is not clear to me. However, as I have mentioned in other threads, the reliance on these contractor sourced algorithmically driven surveillance is suspect, and bias is a certainty in the way they have been used both in NY and elsewhere.

"The DOI released a report in 2022 which found that the NYPD is fully compliant with the POST Ac," the DCPI spokesperson said. "As such, the NYPD is one of the most transparent police agencies in the nation, providing detailed information on various surveillance technologies in use by the NYPD."

Cahn from STOP took issue with that statement. "The NYPD continues to systematically hide the billions it spends on unproven and biased surveillance technology," he said in an email to The Register. "It's bad when the Department wastes money that puts New Yorkers in harm's way and shreds the Constitution, but it’s even worse when they lie about it.

I have to say, I'm inclined to echo the sentiment that despite the DOI reporting the cooperation in a positive light, it is definitely worth watching, because law enforcement by machine-driven systems is problematic at best, and foolishly lazy at worst. These technologies may be far to enthusiastically accepted due to the marketing and AI/technology fad... but they have led to too many wrongful - and hurtful - effects on the public.

a reply to: Maxmars

There is some contradiction in this report.

How that works out to rejecting 93 percent of suggested actions or policies is not clear to me.

Apparently it's referring to before and since the (POST) Act went into effect and/or the recommendations specifically related to the Surveillance Technology (POST) Act law ...

The DCPI spokesperson said that the NYPD has implemented or accepted nearly 75 percent of DOI's recommendations since 2015 ...

in July 2020, then New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act into law

93% of the OIG’s recommendations for complying with the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act.

The NYPD, however, has rejected 93 percent of the advice from an independent oversight body, the Department of Investigations' (DOI) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the force about how to comply with the law. According to OIG's Ninth Annual Report [PDF], the cop watchdog made 15 recommendations and the NYPD refused to implement 14 of them.

a reply to: Tellurian

Thank you for the clarification... It was late, I was tired, and I had lost my ability to do math.