Friday, August 16, 2013

Weiner Visits Bronx Again


  Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner visited Soundview Park in the Bronx’s 43rd Precinct, which had the borough’s second-highest number of stops in 2011, to discuss a proposal from his book, Even More Keys to the City – 61 Additional Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class, to require beat cops to wear cameras so that stops can be police-citizen encounters, can be recorded and accountability is heightened. 
  Weiner said that in  Rialto, California, (about the size of the average NYC Police Precinct) a body-worn camera pilot program implemented between February 2012 and July 2013 resulted in an 88% decline in the number of complaints filed against police officers and a 60% reduction in the use of force by officers as compared to the year before, increasing accountability and protecting both civilians and officers.  The program has been considered such a success that the Rialto police department is expanding it this fall.  
  Weiner stated that each year, the NYPD interacts with on average 23 million civilians, and the end of 2012, lawsuits against the NYPD were at a historic high, costing taxpayers $185 million in 2011 alone the previous year.  
  Idea Key #74: Require Beat Cops to Wear Cameras as a vehicle for ensuring citizens a higher level of accountability from the NYPD and protect officers from false accusations. Weiner’s proposal, part of several measures to improve crime abatement, would drastically improve the relationship between officers and citizens. Implement a pilot program in 20 high-risk, high-poverty precincts with the goal of gauging the lessening of crime and arrests in the area due to this measure. Cameras are a small investment for the city that will pay for themselves in savings the city will receive from clearing the back log of tort and civil actions and administrative costs associated with an arrest.

 “Each day we send our NYPD officers into communities with the expectation that they will treat communities with ‘Courtesy, Professionalism, and Respect’ and we have an obligation to modify the enforcement of a policy that is clearly straining relationships with our citizens,” said Weiner. “This proposal is one solution worth pursuing in the effort to continually bring down crime while building strong community ties,” Weiner said.  
   You can go to  www.anthonyweiner.com  to find out more.

Left- Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner talks about Idea Key #74 Implement a pilot program for police to wear body cameras to improve crime abatement, and the relationship between police officers and the community.Right - one such camera is in Weiners hand to show the size of it.

 













Left - After answering reporters questions Ms. Roselle O'Mara and Mr. Shawn Roberts confronted Weiner over the Stop N Frisk issue. Mr. Roberts said that he had been stopped twice for no reason.
Right - Weiner answers the pair.
 Weiner then went to the James Monroe Senior Center located at 1776 Story Avenue to meet the seniors and listen to their concerns. As seen in the photos below.

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