ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) – New York Attorney General Letitia James promised Sunday to expedite the release of body camera footage in cases of alleged police misconduct that her office investigates.
Speaking in Rochester, which has been in turmoil since the footage of Daniel Prude’s fatal encounter with police was released more than five months after his death, James said her office “will be proactively releasing footage to the public on our own.”
“This is footage we obtain as part of investigations conducted by our special prosecutions unit,” James said. “Up until now, the release of footage has been up to the discretion of local authorities. But this process has caused confusion, delays, and has hampered transparency in a system that should be as open as possible.”
It was unclear how many cases would be affected by the policy, since the attorney general’s office does not review all footage of police interactions with the public.
James spoke in Rochester after meeting with family members of Prude, a Black man who died several days after police put a hood over his head and pressed his face into the pavement on March 23. There have been nightly protests since Prude’s family released video of the fatal encounter earlier this month. James announced on Sept. 5 that she would empanel a grand jury to investigate his death.