3,500 Body-Worn Cameras Recalled from Rikers Island Guards After One Catches Fire
At New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex on May 3, 2024, a guard’s body-worn camera (BWC) malfunctioned and ignited, leaving the unnamed captain suffering burns and smoke inhalation. The city’s Department of Correction (DOC) then suspended use of nearly 3,500 BWCs in use by guards.
The devices provide crucial evidence when guards are accused of using excessive force or other misconduct. BWCs recorded mentally ill detainee Nicholas Feliciano, 18, as he attempted to hang himself with sweatshirts in 2019, arms flailing until he eventually went limp, while a half-dozen guards did nothing. He was left with severe brain damage because of their negligence, and the city paid over $28 million to settle a lawsuit brought by his family.
The Reveal Media D5 BWC that spontaneously combusted was worn by a guard on duty at George R. Vierno Center. Though shaken, she reportedly sustained no serious injuries and was treated at Mount Sinai Hospital before being released.
“The safety of our staff is paramount,” declared DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, who ordered the department-wide recall of BWCs. While the malfunction is investigated, the jail system will rely on its network of some 12,400 security cameras, plus handheld cameras deployed to document critical incidents.
The investigation was expected to take two weeks, but it was still ongoing a month after the incident. Not surprisingly, both the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association (COBA) and the Correction Captains’ Association (CCA) supported locking up the cameras. The federal monitor in a long-running class action suit over jail conditions reported on June 27, 2024, that BWCs would not return to Rikers for three months—throwing a longer shadow over jail operations just one week after a city attorney convinced the federal court for the Southern District of New York not to lift the seal placed on other evidence in the case. See: Nunez v. City of N.Y., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111098 (S.D.N.Y.).
The BWC malfunction was DOC’s first since implementing them in 2015. A similar malfunction occurred in 2021 in the city Police Department (NYPD). At that time NYPD withdrew 2,000 BWCs from officers for inspection.
Additional sources: Daily News, Gothamist, New York Times
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