NY Department of Pension Institutions Suspends Body Cameras After Officer Catches Fire

Department of Pension Institutions NY has temporarily suspended the use of body cameras after an employee suffered burns and smoke inhalation last week when she suddenly caught fire.

A Rikers Island correctional officer, a captain who has not been identified, was rushed to Mount Sinai on Friday when her body camera caught fire. The Department of Corrections said they were in contact with the manufacturer of the camera to investigate the cause of the fire.

Correctional Institutions Superintendent Lynelle Maginley-Liddie said in a statement that her thoughts were with the injured officer.

“The safety of our staff is paramount, so I am removing all body cameras from service out of an abundance of caution while we investigate how and why this incident happened,” Maginley-Liddie said.

While this is the first time this has happened at the Department of Corrections, this is at least the second time since 2018 that a law enforcement officer’s body camera has been set on fire in New York City.

The NYPD stopped using Vievu’s model LE-5 body camera in 2018 after an officer discovered he was smoking. According to NBC New York, the camera exploded shortly after the officer removed it from his body and no injuries were reported.

A similar incident happened with Axon AB2 model cameras in 2021, when an officer also removed his camera when he started smoking. Axon confirmed at the time that it was investigating after the device reportedly overheated, NBC New York reported.

The manufacturer of the device the corrections officer was wearing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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