S.T.O.P. Condemns Rikers Island Camera Crackdown

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Condemns Rikers Island Camera Crackdown (New York, NY, 1/19/2022) - Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based civil rights group, condemned the Adams administration for blocking corrections oversight officials from monitoring CCTV camera footage from Rikers Island. Earlier this week, the Department of Corrections revoked the Board of Correction’s access to video footage from New York City jails. The Board of Corrections, an independent watchdog, can now only watch footage at a designated DOC locations during business hours. Previously, Board of Correction officials could monitor jail conditions remotely and in real time from the city’s 14,000 cameras. S.T.O.P. warned that the policy exemplifies how law enforcement undermines any surveillance used to watch officers, rather than the public. SEE: Gothamist - NYC Correction Dept. blocks watchdog from unfettered access to Rikers video footage https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-correction-dept-blocks-watchdog-from-unfettered-access-to-rikers-video-footage “We’re told that surveillance will keep an eye on law enforcement, but it only watches the public,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “Like bodycams and other surveillance purchased in the name of law enforcement accountability, the city is shaping rules to support (not monitor) law enforcement. These sorts of abuses should make us question anytime that the city tells us that surveillance will be a way to prevent police abuses.”   S.T.O.P. previously released Listening Beyond the Bars, a research report detailing the abuses of artificial intelligence and audio surveillance in New York prisons. Last month, S.T.O.P. published an opinion piece condemning the DOC’s plan to digitize all mail entering Rikers Island and other city jails. SEE: Report – Listening Beyond the Bars: New York’s AI Surveillance of Prisoners and Their Loved Ones https://www.stopspying.org/listening-beyond-the-bars City Limits - Opinion: NYC Jails Criminalize Mail Correspondence, Just In Time For the Holidays https://citylimits.org/2022/12/15/opinion-nyc-jails-criminalize-mail-correspondence-just-in-time-for-the-holidays/ The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color. -- END -- CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn   Copyright © 2021 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.