The New York City Department of Corrections announced it is temporarily halting the use of its nearly 3,500 body-worn cameras after one caught fire on Friday and injured a captain, who was later hospitalized.
The captain, who was on duty at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island and whom the department did not name, suffered burns and smoke inhalation and was treated at Mount Sinai Hospital.
“Our thoughts are with our captain who was injured in this incident,” said Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie in a statement. “The safety of our staff is paramount, which is why I am removing all body-worn cameras from service out of an abundance of caution while we investigate how and why this incident occurred.”
The body cameras the corrections department uses are Reveal Media D5 series cameras. Officials have been in touch with the manufacturer and are conducting an investigation, which is expected to take between one to two weeks, according to department spokesperson Annais Morales.
Reveal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Body-worn camera footage has revealed abuse and dangerous conditions at Rikers. Last month, the New York Times reported a legal case stemming from video — including body-camera footage — that showed detainee Nicholas Feliciano attempting to hang himself while more than six correction guards stood by. Feliciano suffered severe brain damage. The city agreed to settle the lawsuit brought by his family for more than $28 million.
The department said that the federal monitor, who was appointed to oversee the troubled Rikers Island jail complex in 2015, has been informed of its decision to temporarily stop using the body-worn cameras.
The department requires all uniformed officers to wear a body-worn camera, and said this is the first time such an incident has occurred since it put the technology into use in 2015.
But body-worn cameras used by the NYPD have ignited in the past. In 2018, police officials pulled nearly 3,000 body-worn cameras made by a company named Axon out of service after one exploded. No one was injured but police at the time said the incident revealed “a potential for the battery inside the camera to ignite.”
Correction officers will still be able to use handheld cameras, the department said, adding that the jail system has more than 12,400 security cameras that run 24 hours a day.