September 4, 2014, New York - In response to today’s announcement by the NYPD that it will launch the body camera pilot program ordered by Judge Shira Scheindlin in the landmark case Floyd v. City of New York before the actual remedy process has begun, Center for Constitutional Rights attorney Darius Charney, issued the following statement:

This kind of unilateral decision on the part of the NYPD follows the nontransparent, go-it-alone approach to police reform we saw with the prior NYPD and mayoral administration. The pilot project ordered by the court envisioned a collaborative process in which the City, plaintiffs and court monitor work together to develop the guidelines and procedures for how the cameras and the footage recorded on them would be used and stored. But it now appears that the City has made all of these important decisions implicating police officer and civilian safety and privacy entirely on its own, which is troubling for those of us who care about building trust and respect between the NYPD and the communities they police.