NYPD cuts release of graphic video footage to help apprehend suspects

There are fewer and fewer dramatic New York City crime videos in your internet feed, and the cops are arguing whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

After the December 3 NYPD release of a video of a masked assailant in Harlem hitting a man on the head with a baseball bat with such force that the victim immediately collapsed to the ground, 1 Police Plaza officials began debating the appropriateness of releasing such a pictorial observation. captured material.

When the man with the bat was arrested shortly after the video went viral, police determined that surveillance images showing the suspect’s face, rather than a description of the violent crime, contributed to the arrest.

“The video was sensation for the sake of sensation,” one source said. “There was no reason to post this video.”

The result was a decision to limit the release of videos showing criminal violence, including footage of shoplifters with guns or gunmen shooting at each other. Instead, the NYPD prefers to release photos or videos of the suspect, rather than the crime itself.

But other sources said the department overreacted by not releasing videos showing criminal violence.

“Guys, you will run videos that get more clicks,” a second source said, citing the media. “The more clicks, the more likely it is that someone who knows the perpetrator will call us by name.”

Surveillance video shows a deadly attack on a man at a gas station in Queens.

Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD senior detective currently teaching at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said a graphic video would generate more interest in a crime than just a crystal-clear image of a suspect.

“Because of the heinous nature of some of these crimes, people will be upset by this,” Giacalone said. “Where there is usually someone who is protecting someone else or not informing someone, when there is a video showing people being brutally attacked, [tipsters] more likely to come forward.

“I think the police are doing themselves a disservice because these videos are really getting a public reaction,” he said. “Video gets more attention than photography.”

The NYPD said in a statement that its press office issued 3,614 requests for media attention in 2022, up from 3,565 in 2021. Each was accompanied by photographs or videos, or both.

“The department’s work remains the department’s primary mission to distribute the clearest and most accurate images of criminal suspects to facilitate their arrest and advance the cause of justice,” the statement said.

The police officer said that the department’s policy had not changed and that she had always tried not to release images of actual crimes. Hiding images of violence from the public is a way to avoid traumatizing victims and their families, as well as reduce the perception that the crime is worse than it actually is, the official said.

Mayor Adams has spoken in recent months about the perception of crime outpacing actual crime, at one point accusing the media of covering “every day on the front pages of your newspaper” the worst of the daily subway crimes.

Police released photos and video of a 47-year-old man walking in front of 1770 Amsterdam Ave.  in early December, when he was approached from behind and beaten with a baseball bat.  The suspect was later arrested.

But a spokesman for Adams says restricting the publication of violent videos was not the mayor’s idea. “The mayor has not given any direction to change the existing policy,” the spokesman said.

John Jay College professor Elizabeth Gelgick, a clinical psychologist, said there is evidence that crime videos can traumatize those who watch them, even if they are not the victims, and may deter tourists.

But she also said there is no clear pattern because the video does give police clues that lead to arrests and prevent the same suspects from committing other crimes.

And, she noted, some videos released by the police or citizens can change a nation.

“If you look back at the killing of George Floyd, you will see that many communities, especially communities of color, were very traumatized by the footage of this event,” Yelgich said of a Facebook video showing Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

“It also really started a movement. It made people aware of the social problem and made them act,” Jelgic said. “So there is a balance between what is being shown and for what purpose.”

With Michael Gartland

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