Bill Text: NY A05958 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Enacts the "Safe Streets Security Camera Registry Act" for the city of New York.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to cities [A05958 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A05958-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          5958
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    February 17, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. PICHARDO -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Cities
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  administrative code of the city of New York, in
          relation to enactment of the "safe streets  security  camera  registry
          act"
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
     2  the "safe streets security camera registry act".
     3    §  2. Legislative intent. Currently, the police department of the city
     4  of New York collects information  on  the  location  of  privately-owned
     5  security  cameras  manually,  by  means of periodic surveys conducted by
     6  patrol officers. Such surveys do not capture the locations of  newly-in-
     7  stalled privately-owned security cameras in a timely and complete manner
     8  due  to  their  periodic nature and reliance on personal observations by
     9  officers. It is the intent of the legislature that the police department
    10  create an online security camera registry and database for all  private-
    11  ly-owned  and operated security cameras within the city of New York with
    12  fields of observation that look upon and capture video of public spaces,
    13  such as sidewalks, as well as  lobbies,  courtyards  and  vestibules  of
    14  apartment   buildings.   Creating  the  security  camera  registry  will
    15  strengthen the department's ability to pursue perpetrators of crimes  by
    16  enhancing  its  ability  to  collect  video evidence in a timely manner,
    17  thereby shortening the time needed to bring criminal investigations to a
    18  successful conclusion. The registry will only alert  the  department  to
    19  the  existence  of privately-owned security cameras that observe persons
    20  in public places. Nothing in this  legislation  will  impinge  upon  the
    21  civil liberties of the people of the city of New York.
    22    §  3.  The  administrative  code of the city of New York is amended by
    23  adding a new section 14-166 to read as follows:
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02084-02-7
        A. 5958                             2
     1    § 14-166 Security camera registry. a. The department shall create  and
     2  maintain  an  online  registry  and  database of all privately-owned and
     3  operated security cameras within the city of New  York  with  fields  of
     4  observation  that  look upon and capture video of public spaces, such as
     5  sidewalks,  as  well  as lobbies, courtyards and vestibules of apartment
     6  buildings.
     7    b. Any individual, company or entity which  installs  a  new  security
     8  camera  after  the  effective  date of this section shall, within thirty
     9  days after installation of such camera, register  the  location  of  the
    10  camera  and  the  contact  information  for  the owner of the camera and
    11  include a brief description of the view the  camera  captures  with  the
    12  registry  and  database  created  and  maintained by the department. The
    13  owner of the camera shall register such information with the  department
    14  through the department's online registry.
    15    c.  The  owner  of a security camera which has been installed prior to
    16  the effective date of this section shall  have  ninety  days  after  the
    17  effective  date  of  this section to register the location of the camera
    18  and the contact information for the owner of the camera with the depart-
    19  ment's registry and include a brief description of the view  the  camera
    20  captures as set forth in subdivision b of this section.
    21    d.  In the event that a crime occurs within the vicinity of a security
    22  camera  registered  with the department's database, the department shall
    23  obtain the consent of the camera owner to view any footage  recorded  or
    24  otherwise obtain a subpoena for production of such video.
    25    e.  The security camera registry and database shall be used solely for
    26  law enforcement purposes. Any data, records, photos, videos or  informa-
    27  tion  collected  for  such  camera  registry shall not be subject to the
    28  freedom of information law pursuant to subdivision two of section eight-
    29  y-nine of the public officers law.
    30    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.