NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters yesterday that in a “relatively short period of time” people will be able to send “video and text straight to 911 to increase the flow of information.” Kelly didn’t go into details about how the technology would work, but he did say that “generally speaking, it’s helpful when people record an event taking place that helps us during an investigation.”
The commissioner’s statement would seem to include recent “events” like the now-infamous cop-on-cyclist bodyslam video and another video of a man being beaten by police (pictured) that surfaced Tuesday. But one wonders whether Kelly’s encouragement of witness videotaping will filter down to the rank and file – it’s fairly common for police to order people to stop taking photos or video of them, which is legal as long as it doesn’t interfere with police business.
On a side note, the press swarmed the Union Square Greenmarket yesterday to try and talk with Christopher Long, the cyclist who’s seen being thrown from his bike in the video. Long, who works at the market, declined to talk to reporters, telling the Daily News, “There are charges against me, and I don't want anything to affect my case.” Long reportedly has “two large scabs on his knees from the body block.”
