Activists are trying to track incidents of police misconduct by tapping into NYC's vast network of traffic cameras and sharing footage with the public

• Activist group NYC Mesh is using New York City's network of traffic cameras to track incidents of police brutality, as first reported by Vice.
• The city's Department of Transportation makes footage available to the public, but only in real time.
• NYC Mesh has made a public archive of the footage "to make it easier for the public to identify police misconduct," the group said in a blog post.
• Amid numerous incidents of police using force with largely peaceful protesters, the public has increasingly been calling for stronger oversight of law enforcement and accountability for those who abuse their power.

In the wake of George Floyd's death while in police custody, police departments across the US have been criticized for using aggressive tactics against largely peaceful protesters, including the use of tear gas, physical force and, in New York City, ramming protesters with vehicles.

While many incidents of police brutality — including Floyd's death — have been caught on video by news media, police body cameras, and bystanders' cellphones, activists in NYC are turning to a different tool to expose misconduct: traffic cameras.

NYC Mesh, a group of activists who operate a free, community-owned internet service, have started archiving footage from the city's vast network of traffic cameras and making it available to the public.

"Holding the police accountable requires witnessing, recording and sharing footage of their actions. Inspired by Darnella Frazier, whose recording of George Floyd's murder sparked a global movement, I am archiving NYC traffic camera footage with help from the NYC Mesh community to make it easier for the public to identify police misconduct," Aakash Patel, a volunteer for the group, wrote in a blog post Wednesday.

The Department of Transportation, which operates the camera network, currently makes footage available to the public, but only in real time, meaning someone would "have to be watching the right camera at the right time and be ready to take a screenshot," according to Patel.

By downloading the footage and posting it online for the public, Patel said NYC Mesh's archive tool "makes it possible to review footage after an event has taken place ... providing another source of visual evidence."

The tool works by saving an image from each camera whenever the feed updates, typically between one and 30 seconds, and then publishing them in batches, the blog post explained. Currently, the archive only includes feeds from Manhattan and Brooklyn — NYC Mesh is working to expand it to other boroughs, but the group is reportedly running into challenges expanding it.

Patel told Vice that, after several days of being able to access more than 200 GB of data per day, the DOT seemed to be slowing down the tool. He told Vice he submitted a request to the city get a "formal feed of the cameras, as they would provide a news agency," but that no one has gotten back to him.

The Department of Transportation did not immediately return a request for comment.