All 3,000 city Department of Correction body-worn cameras were yanked Saturday — a day after an officer at the Rikers Island correctional facility was injured when hers ignited, The Post has learned.
The captain’s body camera caught on fire Friday, prompting unions to ask for a full safety review, officials said.
“They’re going to pull them,” Patrick Ferraiuolo, president of the Correction Captains’ Association, said. “They’re not going to be returned to staff until we’re sure they’re OK.”
Earlier reports indicated the officer was burned by the camera fire but officials later said she suffered smoke inhalation, he said.
“She went to the hospital but she wasn’t admitted,” he said. “She’s doing O.K., a little traumatized.”
It’s not clear what caused the camera to ignite but some of them have lithium batteries, Ferraiuolo noted.
The DOC’s more than 3,000 body-worn cameras, which are assigned to all uniformed staff, are similar to those used by the NYPD but not the same make, officials said.
Corrections Officers’ Benevolent Association President Benny Boscio sent a statement to his members telling them the city and DOC commissioner agreed to pull the cameras at his request.
“The DOC will temporarily be taking all [body worn camera’s] offline in order to conduct a safety review of the devices until further notice,” the message said.
The investigation is expected to take one to two weeks.
In 2018, The New York Police Department removed about 3,000 body cameras from its officers after one of the devices worn by a Staten Island cop exploded into flames.
The department was in the early stages of outfitting its 23,000 officers with the cameras. They now all have them.
The NYPD yanked another 2,000 police body cameras in 2021 after one of the devices exploded and caught fire in Manhattan.
The officers both suffered minor injuries.