A 7014: Requires institutions and local correctional facilities to adhere to certain standards regarding the surveillance of incarcerated individuals and detainees, and access to such surveillance recordings.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7014 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY March 18, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. TAPIA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Correction AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to requiring insti- tutions and local correctional facilities to adhere to certain surveillance, recording and investigation standards The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The correction law is amended by adding a new section 500-q 2 to read as follows: 3 § 500-q. Surveillance, recording, and investigations. 1. Definitions. 4 For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the 5 following meanings: 6 (a) "Covered facility" means an institution or local correctional 7 facility. 8 (b) "Recording request" means a formal request for access to surveil- 9 lance camera footage made by legal representatives, prosecutors, defend- 10 ants, or their counsel, relevant to any investigation or legal proceed- 11 ing involving a covered facility. 12 2. Comprehensive camera coverage. (a) All covered facilities in the 13 state shall be required to install, operate, and maintain surveillance 14 cameras sufficient to capture the activities and movement of all persons 15 within each such covered facilities, with the exception of the interior 16 of cells, showers, and toilet areas and areas being used exclusively to 17 provide medical treatment to individuals in private settings. For each 18 area in which there is not fixed camera coverage of the interior of such 19 area, cameras shall be installed, operated, and maintained which capture 20 the ingress and egress of such areas. 21 (b) Surveillance cameras installed in covered facilities shall capture 22 both audio and visual evidence. 23 (c) Each covered facility shall ensure that all surveillance footage 24 captures clear visual evidence of activities within such covered facili- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10680-01-5 
 A. 7014 2 1 ty. Each covered facility shall perform regular assessments and improve- 2 ments to camera placement and functionality to ensure complete coverage. 3 If at any time, a covered facility becomes aware of any non-functioning 4 cameras, any areas which are not fully covered by cameras, or any other 5 barrier to reviewing all relevant video footage of any area, such issues 6 shall be documented, investigated and actions shall be taken to remedy 7 the problems that led to incomplete camera coverage or unavailable 8 camera footage. 9 (d) Fixed surveillance cameras in covered facilities shall operate 10 continuously for twenty-four hours a day. 11 3. Comprehensive body worn camera usage. (a) All staff of covered 12 facilities shall wear body worn cameras during the entirety of each 13 shift in any location where, and at any time when, incarcerated people 14 are permitted to be or are present. Such body worn cameras shall capture 15 both video and audio. 16 (b) Covered facility staff shall document use of body worn cameras in 17 activity logs and access the video management system to identify any 18 unusual activity, including all uses of force, that occurred during each 19 shift. Any time when a body worn camera was turned off, and the reason, 20 shall be identified in such log and in the video management system. 21 (c) Covered facility staff shall upload videos by inserting the body 22 worn camera into the appropriate docking station to so upload and 23 recharge the battery. All body worn camera footage shall be uploaded at 24 the end of each shift. 25 4. Retention. All surveillance recording footage captured under this 26 section shall be preserved for a minimum of six months. If there is an 27 allegation or report of any staff misconduct or rule violation, surveil- 28 lance recording footage from the time period of such incident shall be 29 preserved for a minimum of five years. 30 5. Access to recordings. (a) Surveillance recordings from covered 31 facilities captured under this section shall be provided upon request by 32 any of the following parties: 33 (i) legal counsel for detainees, and incarcerated individuals, upon 34 consent of the incarcerated individual subject of the alleged abuse; and 35 (ii) prosecutors or defense counsel involved in relevant legal 36 proceedings where such recordings are to be used for the purposes of 37 such proceedings. 38 (b) All requests for surveillance footage shall be responded to within 39 ten business days. Failure to respond within such timeframe shall result 40 in automatic penalties under subdivision six of this section. 41 (c) Covered facilities shall make best efforts to redact or obscure 42 the faces of persons other than the subject of the alleged abuse and the 43 alleged perpetrator in response to requests for surveillance footage. 44 (d) Surveillance footage relevant to any complaint, investigation, or 45 legal proceeding shall be preserved for a minimum of five years from the 46 date of such complaint or incident. 47 6. Penalties and enforcement. (a) For each instance in which a covered 48 facility fails to install or maintain adequate camera coverage, such 49 coverage facility shall be fined ten thousand dollars per violation. 50 (b) For each failure to provide requested footage within the timeframe 51 specified under paragraph (b) of subdivision five of this section, the 52 covered facility shall be fined five thousand dollars per day until such 53 requested footage is provided. 54 7. Accountability and review. (a) The office of the state inspector 55 general shall conduct annual audits of covered facilities to ensure 
 A. 7014 3 1 compliance with this section. The findings of such audits shall be 2 submitted to the legislature and the governor's office. 3 (b) The results of the audits conducted under paragraph (a) of this 4 subdivision, including any penalties assessed, shall be made available 5 to the public through an annual report. 6 § 2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a 7 law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any 8 rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its 9 effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such 10 effective date.