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Read the press release here.

Deadline for NYPD Body Camera Survey Extended to Aug. 7

 New Yorkers have less than a week left to voice their opinions about police body cameras in a survey on the topic that will help inform the NYPD's camera policy.
New Yorkers have less than a week left to voice their opinions about police body cameras in a survey on the topic that will help inform the NYPD's camera policy.
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Getty Images/Andrew Burton

NEW YORK CITY — New Yorkers have more time to voice their opinions about police body cameras in a survey on the topic that will help inform the NYPD's camera policy.

The survey, which is part of the NYPD’s push to come up with a comprehensive policy for if and how its officers use body cameras, was originally set to be online through July 31 but has been extended to Aug. 7, according to Policing Project, a think tank that's working with the NYPD to do the survey.

The NYPD is looking for feedback about how body cameras should be used in the run up to a proposed pilot program that will place 1,000 cameras with officers around the city.

The survey aims to gather public opinion on whether body cameras will increase public and officer safety, whether they will help or harm police-community relations, and whether officers must alert people that they are recording, among other questions.

The Policing Project will write a report based on the findings of the survey, and the NYPD will explain how and why it will adjust its body camera policy in response to the findings, according to the survey website.

Under the proposed NYPD policy, officers will be required to record:

► Any use of force.
► All arrests, summonses, searches of persons and property, and any stop or frisk.
► When responding to a crime in progress.
► When patrolling inside a New York Housing Authority (NYCHA) building, or a building enrolled in the Trespass Affidavit Program (TAP).
► When transporting a prisoner or any person in police custody to a police station, hospital or jail.
► When interacting with someone who may be experiencing emotional disturbance.

Body cameras have emerged in recent years as a potentially powerful tool for accountability as the country has become engulfed in debate over a number of high-profile deaths of black men and women at the hands of police.

A March 2015 report by the San Diego Police Department showed that use of force by its officers dropped dramatically when the cameras were rolling, with “personal body weapon” use down 46.5 percent over the yearlong study and use of chemical agents down 30.5 percent.

But other studies by police departments across the country have found that the cameras were markedly less effective at shaping police behavior if officers were able to stop recording at will, according to a Vice News report.

Under the NYPD's preliminary policy for the upcoming pilot program, officers will be required to keep the camera rolling until an incident is over, however if a member of the public asks the officer to turn the camera off, officers will be able to do so or not at their discretion.

For more details on the NYPD body camera survey, conducted by the Policing Project, see the organization's website.