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.