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The New York Police Department is banning the use of nearly 3,000 body cameras after one of the devices has begun to emit smoke before it explodes, officials said on Sunday. police.
The recall of the Vievu LE-5 cameras could delay the department's plan to equip the 23,000 patrol agents with a body camera by December.
The police department announced that it was shooting 2,990 LE-5 cameras on Sunday after the explosion "revealed a potential battery risk for the battery inside the camera".
The cause and extent of the defect are the subject of an investigation, police officials said.
An officer was carrying the camera for the body for a quarter of midnight in the 121st constituency on the northwest coast of Staten Island when he noticed that smoke was emanating from the bottom of the aircraft. He was not injured when the body's camera exploded, police said.
Police officers assigned to the LE-5 cameras were asked to immediately remove the devices and return them, the police said. Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill suspended the subsequent use and distribution of the camera model "as a precaution".
"Nothing is more important than the safety of our officers and the equipment of the N.Y.P.D. with the best equipment is a top priority, "he said.
The blast was reported for the first time by Spectrum News NY1 on Sunday, and a reporter posted a picture of flames fired by the camera on Twitter.
Police said other camera models, including the LE-4, were not involved in the order. Officers who received LE-5 cameras would continue to work without body cameras, officials said.
To date, the Police Department has deployed more than 15,500 cameras for the Vievu Corps to officers working in its neighborhoods, social housing, service areas and transit districts. The LE-5 model had been used in 16 orders throughout the city.
The police department announced earlier this year that all uniformed patrol officers would be wearing devices by the end of the year, a year ahead of schedule. Twenty-six orders were to receive the aircraft between October and December, which made it possible to complete the deployment.
Sydney Siegmeth, Vice President of Global Communications at Axv's parent company, Axvu, said the company was investigating the problem with the police.
"We will take steps to resolve this situation quickly and safely," she said. Axon was formerly known as Taser.
The union representing the patrol officers refused to comment.
The use of police surveillance cameras has exploded in recent years as a national debate over police-civilian interactions, punctuated by deadly shootings perpetrated by officers composed mainly of non-black teenagers and adolescents. armed. Law enforcement agencies view these as tools for investigating and assessing the behavior of agents, while reform advocates hope to help reduce abuses and increase transparency.
After the police released images of the camera on the body, three officers were shot dead, including two mortals, the largest union in the city prosecuted in January for keeping them secret under a civil rights law that protects officers' disciplinary records from public disclosure.
The demand for body cameras reached a billion dollars, dominated by the crippling giant Taser, who renamed his Axon camera in 2017. Axon bought Vievu in May, after losing the contracts of his former rival in major cities as New York, Miami and Phoenix.
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