Pastors voice concern over NYPD body camera program

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Pastors in Harlem are calling on the NYPD and Mayor Bill de Blasio to rethink the company they've chosen to buy body cameras from. The company is VieVu. The pastors said that the company is unqualified because the cameras have malfunctioned and lost data.

The pastors say the lives of the public and police officers are at stake. They want the best body cameras possible to protect everyone. The group wants City Council to be involved in selecting a body camera company as well as input from the public.

At a news conference Monday, the NYPD acknowledged that VieVu has had some issues in other cities. However, the department said the company has fixed the problems. Deputy Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the department would not move forward with the program if it weren't comfortable with the company and cameras.

The pastors would also like a body camera that has a sensor that automatically turns on the camera once a police officer gets out of the car. The VieVu body camera has to be turned on by the officer and can be turned off at any time.

The NYPD hopes to have a contract in place with VieVu by the end of December and begin rolling out about a thousand body cameras in 2017.