Assembly Bill A252

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                   252

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 9, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of A. CASTRO, RIVERA, DINOWITZ, CRESPO, SCARBOROUGH,
  GIBSON, PERRY, MILLER,  SIMANOWITZ,  COLTON,  MONTESANO,  McKEVITT  --
  Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A.  FARRELL, JACOBS, ROBINSON -- read once
  and referred to the Committee on Cities

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  administrative code of the city of New York, in
  relation to enactment of the "safe streets  security  camera  registry
  act"

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
the "safe streets security camera registry act".
  S  2. Legislative intent. Currently, the police department of the city
of New York collects information  on  the  location  of  privately-owned
security  cameras  manually,  by  means of periodic surveys conducted by
patrol officers. Such surveys do not capture the locations of  newly-in-
stalled privately-owned security cameras in a timely and complete manner
due  to  their  periodic nature and reliance on personal observations by
officers. It is the intent of the legislature that the police department
create an online security camera registry and database for all  private-
ly-owned  and operated security cameras within the city of New York with
fields of observation that look upon and capture video of public spaces,
such as sidewalks, as well as  lobbies,  courtyards  and  vestibules  of
apartment   buildings.   Creating  the  security  camera  registry  will
strengthen the department's ability to pursue perpetrators of crimes  by
enhancing  its  ability  to  collect  video evidence in a timely manner,
thereby shortening the time needed to bring criminal investigations to a
successful conclusion. The registry will only alert  the  department  to
the  existence  of privately-owned security cameras that observe persons
in public places. Nothing in this  legislation  will  impinge  upon  the
civil liberties of the people of the city of New York.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD01324-01-3

A. 252                              2

  S  3.  The  administrative  code of the city of New York is amended by
adding a new section 14-154 to read as follows:
  S  14-154 SECURITY CAMERA REGISTRY. A. THE DEPARTMENT SHALL CREATE AND
MAINTAIN AN ONLINE REGISTRY AND  DATABASE  OF  ALL  PRIVATELY-OWNED  AND
OPERATED  SECURITY  CAMERAS  WITHIN  THE CITY OF NEW YORK WITH FIELDS OF
OBSERVATION THAT LOOK UPON AND CAPTURE VIDEO OF PUBLIC SPACES,  SUCH  AS
SIDEWALKS,  AS  WELL  AS LOBBIES, COURTYARDS AND VESTIBULES OF APARTMENT
BUILDINGS.
  B. ANY INDIVIDUAL, COMPANY OR ENTITY WHICH  INSTALLS  A  NEW  SECURITY
CAMERA  AFTER  THE  ENACTMENT  OF THIS SECTION SHALL, WITHIN THIRTY DAYS
AFTER INSTALLATION OF SUCH CAMERA, REGISTER THE LOCATION OF  THE  CAMERA
AND  THE  CONTACT  INFORMATION FOR THE OWNER OF THE CAMERA AND INCLUDE A
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE VIEW THE CAMERA CAPTURES WITH THE REGISTRY  AND
DATABASE  CREATED  AND  MAINTAINED  BY  THE DEPARTMENT. THE OWNER OF THE
CAMERA SHALL REGISTER SUCH INFORMATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT  THROUGH  THE
DEPARTMENT'S ONLINE REGISTRY.
  C.  THE  OWNER  OF A SECURITY CAMERA WHICH HAS BEEN INSTALLED PRIOR TO
THE ENACTMENT OF THIS SECTION SHALL HAVE NINETY DAYS AFTER THE ENACTMENT
OF THIS SECTION TO REGISTER THE LOCATION OF THE CAMERA AND  THE  CONTACT
INFORMATION  FOR  THE OWNER OF THE CAMERA WITH THE DEPARTMENT'S REGISTRY
AND INCLUDE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE VIEW THE CAMERA CAPTURES  AS  SET
FORTH IN SUBDIVISION B OF THIS SECTION.
  D.  IN THE EVENT THAT A CRIME OCCURS WITHIN THE VICINITY OF A SECURITY
CAMERA  REGISTERED  WITH THE DEPARTMENT'S DATABASE, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL
OBTAIN THE CONSENT OF THE CAMERA OWNER TO VIEW ANY FOOTAGE  RECORDED  OR
OTHERWISE OBTAIN A SUBPOENA FOR PRODUCTION OF SUCH VIDEO.
  E.  THE SECURITY CAMERA REGISTRY AND DATABASE SHALL BE USED SOLELY FOR
LAW ENFORCEMENT PURPOSES. ANY DATA, RECORDS, PHOTOS, VIDEOS OR  INFORMA-
TION  COLLECTED  FOR  SUCH  CAMERA  REGISTRY SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO THE
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION TWO OF SECTION EIGHT-
Y-NINE OF THE PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW.
  S 4. This act shall take effect immediately.