Bellone, PBA agree on new police reforms in Suffolk, including body cams for officers

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Suffolk PBA President Noel Digerolamo reached a final agreement that will eventually have 1,600 patrol officers wearing body cameras.

News 12 Staff

Dec 1, 2021, 10:55 PM

Updated 1,012 days ago

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Suffolk County and the Police Benevolent Association has reached a deal on police reform measures aimed at increasing accountability and transparency in the department.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Suffolk PBA President Noel Digerolamo reached a final agreement that will eventually have 1,600 patrol officers wearing body cameras.
The first cameras will be put on uniforms in early 2022 with each officer seeing an extra $3,000 in their paychecks every year.
The total cost to taxpayers will be $4.8 million a year, an amount that police reform advocates say is too much.
"I think fiscally it's irresponsible that we have a county government that's going to allocate $4.8 million for cops to wear body cameras to do the job they swore to do," says Elmer Flores of the Long Island Social Justice Network.
Suffolk County also announced $1 million in the budget to go to mental health response training and programs. It also involves hiring civilian employees who are not officers to work in police precincts.
"Some residents may feel more comfortable initially speaking to a civilian when coming to the desk," Bellone says.
The county will also hire three more human rights investigators to work for a total of seven on the Human Rights Commission. Residents can make a complaint about police misconduct to the group.
The investigators will have access to a data portal shared with the department's Internal Affairs Bureau.
The commission, however, cannot interview officers directly or subpoena documents.
A county spokesman says all 1,600 body cameras should be on officers by the middle of 2022.