NEW YORK — The NYPD continues to flout a 2020 law requiring it to disclose new types of policing technology, city investigators have discovered.
A report from the Department of Investigation found police did not properly disclose information in advance of deploying a suite of technologies that Mayor Eric Adams rolled out in 2023 to great fanfare. Thursday's findings matches those from a similar investigation in 2022.
In particular, investigators found NYPD brass did not create a so-called Impact and Use Policy for Digidog, a robotic dog that can be outfitted with cameras. The blueprint would have triggered a public comment period. Instead, the NYPD lumped Digidog into an existing policy that covered an earlier iteration of the canine, allowing the department to circumvent public input.
Inspector General Jeanene Barrett said monitoring the NYPD's use of surveillance "is essential for instilling public confidence that these sophisticated technologies will be used responsibly."
"The recommendations in this Report will enhance these policies, increase transparency, and facilitate future oversight," Barrett added.
The investigative department, which oversees other city agencies, suggested the NYPD issue a policy for Digidog, amend its policies for other technologies to include all required information and rely less on grouping new technologies into existing policies going forward.
The report examined several new tools boosted by the mayor, a former police captain with a keen interest in technology.
In addition to Digidog, it looked at the police department's use of the Knightscope K5 Autonomous Security Robot, a cone on wheels that was pulled from its nocturnal patrols of the Times Square subway station after a pilot program; the StarChase GPS system, which allows officers to fire a tracking device projectile designed to stick to a car; smartphone fingerprinting technology and an augmented reality program that officers can download on their phones.
The report found that the NYPD also omitted details on the health and safety effects of these technologies along the collection and use of data.
The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has maintained that a new policy was not necessary for Digidog, according to the report.
Albert Fox Cahn, head of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, said the 4-year-old POST Act has been essential to gaining a modicum of insight into the billions of dollars worth of military-grade technology the NYPD has purchased in the wake of 9/11.
He argued the City Council, which passed the law, needs to require more compliance from the police department — especially since pressure to follow the POST Act does not seem to be coming from City Hall.
“The NYPD’s refusal to follow the law is unsurprising. The Office of the Inspector General’s report is unsurprising,” he said. “The only thing that is surprising here is how willing Mayor Adams is to have the NYPD break the law.”
An Adams spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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