New York Attorney General Letitia James says from now on, her office will release body camera footage to the public in cases involving police use of force as soon as it comes in.
In Rochester on Sunday, James said that’s been up to local authorities, but that has led to different standards and practices. James says her office will now release the body camera footage of incidents as soon as it comes in and as soon as it has been viewed by the deceased’s family. She says this will avoid what happened in the Daniel Prude case, where the community was outraged to learn five months after the incident that Prude had suffocated in police custody.
James also said her Civil Rights Bureau may launch a probe into the clashes between demonstrators and Rochester Police since the news of Daniel Prude’s death came out. She called for people to send her video, photos and other evidence of their encounters with police to see if there are any civil rights violations.
James said “we will move this city and this state forward,” and said she stands in solidarity with the entire Rochester community in seeking justice for Daniel Prude.