NASSAU COUNTY, NY - Nassau County Executive Laura Curran today announced that that the County issued a Request for Expression of Interest (RFEI) for respondents interested in partnering with the County to design and implement a Body-Worn Camera Program for the Nassau County Police Department. Nassau County is seeking to provide body-worn cameras to sworn personnel in the Nassau County Police Department to record enforcement and other interactions between officers and the public.
The purpose of the RFEI is to gather the most up-to-date information from the vendor community who engage in this type of business, on body-worn camera programs, equipment, and costs. Today’s announcement marks the first step in a full procurement process.
The full Request for Expression of Interest is available here.
“Now more than ever, we must continue to build trust between communities and the police. Nassau does community policing better than anyone else, but we always strive to do better. Body cameras have proven to be a valuable tool in promoting transparency, safety, and accountability. Nassau is bringing everyone to the table to make positive, concrete change.” said Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.
It is the County’s intent to provide a body-worn camera system that is capable of being implemented universally using the best practices established throughout the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services offers guidance to local jurisdictions in their report entitled Implementing a Body-Worn Camera Program: Recommendations and Lessons Learned. The County intends to follow such recommendations, to ensure that the body worn camera program serves the best interests of the Nassau County Police Department and our communities. The Curran Administration will continue to engage police, District Attorney, law enforcement unions, legislators, and the community in order to ensure all stakeholders are made a part of the process.
In addition to the Nassau County Police Department, the County also includes 20 independent local police departments falling under incorporated village or special district jurisdiction. The 2020 Nassau County Shared Services Plan, under New York State’s County-wide Shared Services Initiative (CWSSI) law, provides for the joint purchasing of equipment, shared record storage, centralized contracts, and joint use of equipment between the County and municipalities, by mutual agreement.
Interested parties shall provide no more than twenty (20) pages in response to include: (1) name of the respondent/company, (2) brief description of prior, related experience and (3) comments and suggestions regarding the proposed Program and its implementation, in narrative form. Nassau County will accept questions through July 1, 2020. Questions can be directed to PoliceDepartmentCameras@nassaucountyny.gov and the County will post responses as an addendum to this RFEI. Expressions of Interest should be submitted in writing to the Department of Shared Services, One West Street, Room 100, Mineola, NY 11501 no later than July 8th, 2020 at 4:00pm.