Albany, NY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling again for legislation to require police to videotape custodial interrogations to help prevent convictions based on false confessions and accusations of police coercion.
New York’s district attorneys praised the Democratic governor for including it among the 2016 initiatives he unveiled this week.
The Cuomo administration says it has provided nearly $1.7 million in grants to help localities buy needed video equipment.
Cuomo is also calling for legislation to reform witness identification procedures used by police.
Last year, groups representing lawyers, prosecutors and advocates for the wrongly convicted backed both measures, saying they will address some root causes of wrongful convictions.
They backed mandatory videotaping in violent felony cases and “blind” photo arrays for crime witnesses, where the officer presenting pictures doesn’t know who the suspect is.
