Police Commissioner William Bratton is set to announce an explicit set of guidelines and a new tracking system to document officers’ use of force. Officers will be required to detail every instance when force is employed not only during arrests but brief detention-and-release incidents, including incidents like what took place recently with retired tennis star James Blake.
Officers are already required to intervene if they see another officer using excessive force, but will now face disciplinary action if they don’t intercede, report the incident, or seek medical help for someone who requests it.
The new rules come after a year of consideration and coincide with the deployment of 900 stun guns to patrol officers. The new rules aren’t expected to go into effect until early next year.
“What we’re developing here could become the national template for how do you not only investigate all levels of use of force, but how do you report it in a way that it is transparent,” Bratton told The New York Times on Wednesday.
The announcement comes after City Council members have introduced legislation to require an “early warning system” be put in place to identify officers who use force inappropriately.
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