NYPD Cameras Project

New York is swiftly becoming a surveillance city.  Video cameras, once reserved for residential lobbies and retail stores, now line our sidewalks and our streets.  The cameras are also different – they have higher resolution, and can rotate and zoom. Increasingly, these cameras have the capability of recognizing individuals’ faces, or at least attempting to – current facial recognition is highly inaccurate and regularly results in wrongful arrests.

Unfortunately, constitutional rights do not do much to protect us from this surveillance in public or private accommodations like stores or residential lobbies.  However, we should at least be able to enjoy privacy in our own homes.

For many New Yorkers, that is no longer the case.  As NYPD installs its swiveling-and-zooming cameras across New York’s streets, especially in low income, Black, and brown communities, NYPD is able to see directly into our homes.  If there is a camera on your block, and you leave your blinds open, it is likely that an NYPD operator could direct that camera to your window and look inside. 

Such use of NYPD cameras is unconstitutional, but it is possible with current NYPD camera deployment.  S.T.O.P. wants to stop it.

If you can see an NYPD camera from your window at home, please get in touch with us.  We are hoping to sue NYPD to force them to take these cameras down, or at the very least physically block them from viewing New Yorkers’ homes.  You may also be entitled to some monetary compensation for violation of your rights.

To reach out and help us put an end to this unconstitutional practice, fill out the webform below, or send us an email at nypdcameras@stopspying.org.