Nassau County Asking Vendors For Info On Body Cams

NASSAU COUNTY, NY — Nassau County is taking the first step in bringing body cameras to all its police officers. At a news conference Saturday, County Executive Laura Curran said she is issuing a request for expression of interest for vendors who would want to be considered for partnering with the county to design and implement a body camera program.

"Nationwide, we are seeing what happens when there's an erosion of trust," she said. "In Nassau County, we have a low crime rate in large part because of an emphasis on community policing.

"Body cameras have proven to be a valuable tool for promoting transparency, safety and accountability for everyone," Curran said.

She said the first step in the procurement process is to gather the most up-to-date information from vendors about body camera programs, equipment, cost and how much this technology has advanced over the past several years.

"I am committed to continue to provide our officers with the resources and the guidance to continue to perform their work at the highest level and help keep our neighborhoods safe," Curran said.

She also said she is continuing to advocate for the expansion of the 150-person limit on graduations.

"The state said 150 is a good number," Curran said. "I believe that's a good place to start but I also believe that is something we can expand."

Regarding the latest new coronavirus numbers, the county executive said, as of Friday, there were 5,228 people tested for the virus, with 58 testing positive. That is about a 1 percent rate for positive tests.

To date, 41,127 county residents have been tested.

The number of hospitalizations is down four to 119 in the county's 11 hospitals. The number of patients on ventilators is down five to 19.

While Curran reported that for Thursday 12 people died from COVID-19-related illness, there were zero reported for Friday. The total number of fatalities in the county is now 2,163.