Protecting the personal safety of code enforcement staffers is one of the primary goals for outfitting code inspectors with video recording devices, said Jake Dishaw, the city’s deputy commissioner of code enforcement and zoning administration. When Dishaw’s staffers respond to a residence or commercial building to conduct an inspection, they’re entering a potentially tense situation. And unlike police officers, who often respond with a partner, code inspectors are alone and don’t have body armor, weapons or restraints.
“We have nothing but a cellphone in our pockets,” Dishaw said.
But another tool that’s become a standard part of the police uniform — the body-worn video camera — could provide some personal protection, Dishaw said. He’s asking the Syracuse Common Council to approve buying 30 cameras that he’d like to have in use by July.
Although the proposal was not driven by any specific incidents, Dishaw said Syracuse code inspectors do encounter people who are hostile. The use of body cameras could be a deterrent to bad behavior toward inspectors.
“It’s becoming a trend in code enforcement,” Dishaw said.
City officials also believe the cameras would add a layer of transparency to the work inspectors do and the manner in which they interact with the public. Video footage could also provide another form of documentation of code violations, which they now record using still photography.
Syracuse common councilors want to learn more about the proposal before approving the expenditure, which would include $53,317 in first-year startup costs and $24,000 per year over the following four years. The contract would be with Axon, a widely used provider of body cameras for police departments throughout the United States.
The common council’s Neighborhood Preservation Committee has scheduled a meeting for 11 a.m. Wednesday to discuss the proposal.
Councilor Patrona Jones-Rowser, who chairs the committee, said she and other councilors want to learn more about how the privacy of tenants living in rental units will be protected. It’s not clear from the legislation whether cameras would be rolling throughout a residential inspection, and if so, to what degree can that footage becomes a public record subject to the state Freedom of Information Law.
“There’s just a lot of questions,” she said.
Dishaw said the city still needs to put together a formal policy for the use of code enforcement body cameras, and that policy will not be a duplication of what the police department uses because the nature of their work is different. For example, he said there will likely be a requirement that inspectors get permission to record from a tenant when inspecting inside their residence.
The city has a jumpstart on forming the code enforcement camera policy because the proposal has already gone through one review process. Syracuse officials first put forward the idea of outfitting code enforcement staff with body cameras in May 2023, when Mayor Ben Walsh’s Surveillance Technology Working Group asked for public input on the concept.
The group, comprised of city officials and stakeholders from a variety of community groups, gathered that public feedback, met with Dishaw and conversed with a code enforcement official in a California municipality that has been using them.
The Technology Surveillance Working Group received about 60 comments, with about 60% supporting the technology. About 25% opposed out of privacy concerns. The working group approved the use of cameras at a meeting in August 2023, but it also emphasized the importance of forming a detailed policy governing the cameras’ use. In its recommendation letter, the group said the policy should direct how consent is obtained to film residents, what happens if consent is declined, how long footage will be kept and what material will be blurred or redacted to protect privacy.
One working group member voted against the program. Daniel Schwarz, senior privacy and technology strategist with the New York Civil Liberties Union, told syracuse.com that the benefits of public accountability that body cameras for code enforcement inspectors do not outweigh the privacy concerns related to recording inside people’s homes.
“We recognize and understand the desire to add these cameras to add a layer of protection for both officers and the public but the balance and context are vastly different compared to police,” Schwarz said. “Law enforcement wields far greater powers, and the potential for abuse or illegal behavior justifies utilizing body-worn cameras as a tool for accountability. This balance is not met here.”
Body-worn cameras are now a standard part of the Syracuse Police Department uniform. The department uses Axon’s equipment and platform for securely downloading and storing footage. The city renewed an Axon police contract in 2023 for five years and $6.8 million.
The body cameras for cops program started in May 2017, when the SPD first began using body-worn cameras on 16 officers. By 2021, all patrol officers had them. Sergeants and detectives were added a short time later.
How common body cameras are for code enforcement inspectors is difficult to quantify. The International Code Council is not aware of any data tracking their use, but one of its experts said they definitely are becoming more common.
“There’s certain things that have to be put in place when you’re doing something like that, but for the most part, there’s communities that really benefit from having those type of additional tools available,” said Pete Roque, the national director of code enforcement at 4Leaf Inc., a company that helps municipalities form and implement planning and code policies. It also provides contract code inspection staff to some communities.
Roque said body cameras for code enforcement officers can provide valuable training opportunities in addition to the public safety benefit. But he also cautioned against implementing a program without careful planning and a strong demonstrated need.
“If the jurisdiction that I’m assisting doesn’t bring it up, I’m not bringing it up,” he said. “As soon as they bring it up, I make my recommendations and I ask why they’re pursuing this. ... What’s the benefit? What’s the policy that we’re going to create? There’s certain things that have to be put in place when you’re doing something like that, but for the most part, there’s communities that really benefit.”
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