* § 135. New York state department of corrections and community
supervision body-worn cameras program. 1. There is hereby created within
the department a body-worn cameras program. The purpose of such program
is to increase accountability and evidence for departmental and law
enforcement purposes, department staff, residents of the state, and
those under the department's care by providing body-worn cameras to all
correction officers, security supervisors, and any civilian staff as
identified by the commissioner.

2. The department shall provide body-worn cameras that will be powered
on and worn by correction officers and security supervisors at all
times, while on duty. Incidents and activities that require staff to
manually activate their body-worn cameras, regardless of the presence of
fixed cameras, include but are not limited to:

(a) during any interaction with an incarcerated individual or visitor,
in any location. This paragraph shall not apply when the office of
special investigations or crisis intervention unit is conducting an
interview with an incarcerated individual providing confidential
information where a record of interview is completed;

(b) when staff observe unauthorized activity by an incarcerated
individual, a department employee or any other person in the facility;

(c) during general movement of incarcerated individuals;

(d) when staff is responding to an emergency call for assistance;

(e) during all incarcerated individual escorts;

(f) during incarcerated individual transports, as directed by the
facility watch commander or higher-ranking supervisor. When an employee
enters a non-department facility, the employee will comply with the
facility local policy on wearing the camera and recording. If a local
policy does not exist, the employee shall default to department policy;

(g) when a firearm, oleoresin capsicum spray, or a baton is removed
from its holster or holder;

(h) any instance where department staff feels there is an imminent
threat or the need to document their time on duty;

(i) during all uses of force, including any physical aggression or use
of a non-lethal or lethal weapon;

(j) during a disciplinary hearing when fixed video monitoring systems
are not available where the disciplinary hearing is conducted. Such
recordings will be securely preserved as part of the official hearing
record for all Tier II and Tier III hearings pursuant to section 270.3
of the New York codes, rules and regulations. Audio recordings of all
hearings will continue to be made regardless of whether the video
monitoring system captures audio;

(k) as directed by the deputy commissioner or chief of investigations
for the office of special investigations, or such deputy commissioner's
or chief of investigations' designee, office of special investigations
investigators may utilize body-worn camera systems pursuant to the
office of special investigations policy. The use of such cameras by the
office of special investigations investigators may include but is not
limited to absconder/fugitive operations, facility inspections,
monitoring of frisks, canine operations, high-risk in-state transports
of incarcerated individuals or releasees, and investigative activities
which are deemed appropriate to record;

(l) in congregate shower areas; provided, however, that staff shall
provide a verbal announcement that a body-worn camera is in use and
avoid intentional recording of an incarcerated individual in a state of
undress unless they are required to do so as part of the performance of
their duties;

(m) during all correctional emergency response team activations; and

(n) during a strip search or strip frisk; provided, however, that
incarcerated individuals shall be given verbal notice that they are
being recorded, and the following rules apply:

(i) The wearer of the body-worn camera shall be of the same gender as
the gender designation of the facility. Video recordings of strip frisks
or strip searches shall not be viewed by anyone, except as expressly
authorized in writing by the facility's deputy superintendent for
security or higher authority. If the recording is approved for review,
the deputy superintendent for security shall assure this fact is
documented to include date, time, authorization, reviewer name,
explanation of why the review is necessary, and the result of such
review.

(ii) A body-worn camera recording of any strip search or strip frisk
shall immediately be turned over to an officer assigned to upload,
charge, and issue such cameras to assigned staff for uploading and
storage.

(iii) The video footage of a strip frisk or other incident depicting
an incarcerated individual in a state of complete undress shall only be
viewed by department staff who are of the same gender as the gender
designation of the facility.

3. The commissioner shall have the authority to require civilian staff
assigned to a correctional facility to wear body-worn cameras while on
duty where the civilian employee has direct supervision of an
incarcerated individual with only intermittent security supervision. In
instances where the commissioner has required a civilian to wear a
body-worn camera while on duty, such cameras shall be activated and
shall record:

(a) while interacting with an incarcerated individual, regardless of
the existence of fixed-video monitoring; and

(b) while such employee is in the area of a use of force incident,
including any physical aggression or use of a non-lethal or lethal
weapon.

4. The department shall preserve recordings of such body-worn cameras
for at least ninety days.

5. The department shall perform all necessary maintenance on the
equipment used in such body-worn camera program established pursuant to
this section.

6. The commissioner of the department shall solely determine the
timing and appropriateness of any review or provision of body-worn
camera footage to an employee prior to that employee being required to
answer questions subject to paragraph (g) of subdivision one of section
two hundred nine-a of the civil service law, or prior to an employment
disciplinary hearing regarding the potential misconduct of such
employee.

* NB Effective July 8, 2025