New York State to begin installing security cameras in vehicles used to transport people with developmental disabilities

In a bid to cut down on cases of abuse, the state on Monday will begin monitoring security cameras in public vehicles used to transport people with developmental disabilities, the Daily News has learned.The cameras, along with Global Positioning Systems, will be installed Monday in state buses, vans and cars used to transport the developmentally disabled in the Albany area. The reform is part of a pilot project that officials hope to expand statewide within a month.Digital Camera Tip: What is ISO?

Courtney Burke, commissioner of the state Office of People With Developmental Disabilities, said in a statement the program will make the system safer while individuals are being transported.And she said it will also help resolve complaints, preserve evidence in cases of abuse and even help clear workers who are falsely accused of abuse.Burke’s agency and others like it that provide services to vulnerable populations have been hit hard recently by reports of abuse and coverups of wrongdoing.

There are no plans at this point to expand the security camera program to group homes run by the state and private companies.Travis Proulx, a spokesman for the Office of People With Developmental Disabilities, said the federal government has “very strict restrictions on use of cameras in homes, because that would essentially remove the privacy people are legally entitled to inside their homes.”He is pushing for passage of legislation that would require cameras to be installed in common areas of all group homes for the developmentally disabled, as well as in public and private transport buses, cars and vans.