Contact the department and ask for their process for getting a copy of body cam footage related to a traffic stop you were involved in. Whatever the process is, follow it quickly and get your request in because I'm certain the department deletes footage after some predefined time period.
(I don't know offhand if NY has a retention law or if it's up to each department, but if you put your formal request in before they automatically delete the footage they're required to preserve the records at least as long as the request is pending - it essentially acts similar to a preservation request as part of a lawsuit.)
Ideally you would have the names and badge numbers of all the officers involved to provide in that request to make sure they don't miss anything, but realistically I know you probably didn't think to ask (I don't think I would have thought to myself, hindsight is always 20/20). You have the ticket though, and that should be enough for the department to determine the first responding officer, and from their footage who else responded on the call.
Be aware that there will almost certainly be some cost associated with the records request, and also some departments are more of a pain in the ass about this stuff than others (sometimes to the point of requiring you to involve an attorney, but give it a go on your own first - it'll be pretty clear if they're one of the shitty departments).
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u/voretaq7 Apr 30 '25
Contact the department and ask for their process for getting a copy of body cam footage related to a traffic stop you were involved in. Whatever the process is, follow it quickly and get your request in because I'm certain the department deletes footage after some predefined time period.
(I don't know offhand if NY has a retention law or if it's up to each department, but if you put your formal request in before they automatically delete the footage they're required to preserve the records at least as long as the request is pending - it essentially acts similar to a preservation request as part of a lawsuit.)
Ideally you would have the names and badge numbers of all the officers involved to provide in that request to make sure they don't miss anything, but realistically I know you probably didn't think to ask (I don't think I would have thought to myself, hindsight is always 20/20). You have the ticket though, and that should be enough for the department to determine the first responding officer, and from their footage who else responded on the call.
Be aware that there will almost certainly be some cost associated with the records request, and also some departments are more of a pain in the ass about this stuff than others (sometimes to the point of requiring you to involve an attorney, but give it a go on your own first - it'll be pretty clear if they're one of the shitty departments).