NYPD To Begin Filming Interrogations

In a move opposed by detectives unions but celebrated by those who accuse the NYPD of coercing confessions out of innocent people, the police department will soon begin videotaping interrogations. Supporters of the new policy—which will first be implemented as a pilot program at one high-crime precinct in the Bronx and one high-crime precinct in Brooklyn—say recording interrogations from start to finish will protect people from confessing to crimes they didn't commit.

Confessions are currently taped, but the NYPD had long balked at the idea of taping interrogations because it would be "too expensive and cumbersome to be practical for the nation's largest police department," according to the Daily News. But thanks to newfangled digital technology, an agency that still relies on typewriters will soon able to tape some of its interrogations.

Though the policy has the support of the city's district attorneys and the American Bar Association, Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association, told the Post that cameras will make it much harder for law enforcement officials to do their jobs, potentially leading to more acquittals. "The art of interrogation includes the use of trickery and deception, which are perfectly legal tools," he said. "However, jurors may get turned off, becoming more sympathetic to the suspect."

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By Ben Muessig in News on February 19, 2010 1:50 PM

Comments [rss]

BongoBoy

Filming?

You mean they're going 35mm? 16mm? Super 8? Or even VistaVision 70mm?

Who are they going to contract with to "film" the suspects?

NFL Films?

V/O: "Officer Krupke kicked the con's keester all the way to Kensington"

V/O: "On the frozen tundra of Flatbush ..."

Recording. Taping. NOT "filming"!

Snoopy

If they are still using typewriters, then filming is the proper technology they will use.

It's amazing with all the gazillion of dollars the NYPD raped from homeland security they can't update the simple stuff.

rdc

Hey man, the cops have cameras on most of the city. No reason we shouldn't have cameras on them.

JacqueMehoff

so true, if you got nothing to hide then why be against it.

isn't this the axiom of the cops, if you're innocent let us search your car, home or self.

this helps the good cops and hurts the bad cops, sounds like a good idea to anyone.

nicemarmot

The fact that the union is against it tells you everything you need to know about the integrity of our police. As in, they don't have any. If they're not doing anything wrong, there's no reason not to film; plenty of places have been doing it for years. If you can't explain something you're doing on film, then why are you doing it?

seven

Bunk!

Rocknrope

Big deal, if I was a cop, I'd just take the plug out of the wall before the interrogation - Chiklis style. And I'm not talking about The Commish.

Outter Burrougher

ha! i totally laughed at that. I was obsessed with the Commish when I was little; it took me a long while to get over him not being that sweet guy on the Shield.

youngpro

of COURSE the union is against it! what a surprise!

Angelheaded Hipster

good detectives will want interrogations taped and saved

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

What I don't understand is all the surveillance cameras on public streets but none in police precincts. If any, I would like surveillance cameras in police stations.

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Jen S

Yes, but can you land a quad?

drewo

"The art of interrogation includes the use of trickery and deception"

The NYPD appparently applies these techniques to city crime statistics as well:

Retired Police: NY Crime Stats Manipulated, Fabricated

http://gothamist.com/2010/02/06/study_ny_crime_stats_manipulated_fa.php

aveB4life

great choice for photo!!!

highwire

agree on excellent photo choice but if you've ever read Simon's Homicide and gotten a bit of insight into how detectives use deception to coerce guilty suspects into admission and the odds against a serious crime ever going to trial anyways... i'd side with police that this is a bad idea.