(CNN) — Starting this month, if you get stopped by a police officer in New York City and are not arrested, you may be handed a business card that will explain how to request officers’ body camera footage of the stop.
It’s all part of the Right to Know Act, a new law designed to increase transparency within New York’s police department.
The law was passed in December in response to allegations of unnecessary and unjustified stop-and-frisk searches by the NYPD, says the legislation. It’s being rolled out first in four precincts across the city, according to a police department directive shared with the New York Post.
The cards contain the name of the officer, along with their rank and shield number. If you want to obtain the officer’s body camera footage of the stop, the card directs you to an NYPD website which walks you through how to file a request for the footage under the state’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). Read more…