"Internet connections established under Mayor Eric Adams' flagship free internet program for public housing residents, Big Apple Connect, have so far been used to link 68 CCTV cameras at one NYCHA development to the police department's citywide surveillance software, Anthony Mascia, the commanding officer of the NYPD's Information Technology Bureau, testified."
"By the end of this year, the NYPD plans to fold in 1,900 cameras across 19 more NYCHA properties, Mascia said -and by the end of the next phase, the department expects to have connected 17,897 CCTV cameras across 119 NYCHA developments."
"Big Apple Connect allows police to bypass the time-consuming process of physically retrieving footage, Mascia testified. Real-time access is "an unbelievably valuable tool," he said; if someone reports a robbery, for example, "we're able to quickly log in and immediately see exactly what's going on. Maybe we just see two people running away. Maybe we still see the robbery in progress.""
The City Council held an emergency oversight hearing about the NYPD's use of a free internet program to access NYCHA video cameras. Officials from the Office of Technology and Innovation, the NYPD, and NYCHA were questioned about the initiative. Internet connections from the Big Apple Connect program have been used to link 68 CCTV cameras at one NYCHA development to police surveillance software. The NYPD plans to add 1,900 cameras across 19 properties by year-end and ultimately connect 17,897 cameras across 119 developments. City officials could not explain why the program was pursued in secrecy. Police say real-time access speeds investigations by avoiding physical retrieval of footage.
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