Some agencies’ SWAT teams skip body cams

Touted by Central Florida government and law enforcement officials for their use in bolstering public trust and protecting police from phony complaints, body worn cameras have become the norm for many officers.

But perhaps the most dangerous missions still go unrecorded by several of the region’s biggest law-enforcement agencies.

That’s because the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Orlando Police Department, Seminole County Sheriff ’s Office and Osceola County Sheriff ’s Office do not require their SWAT teams to wear the cameras.

Short for “special weapons and tactics,” SWAT teams use militarystyle tactics and equipment, and handle some of the most fraught situations for police, suspects and bystanders alike, such as drug raids and standoffs.

The agencies gave varying reasons for not videotaping their tactical teams — including safety concerns and practical issues.

OPD does not require SWAT members to record themselves “because the tactics that SWAT uses need to be protected,” spokeswoman Michelle Guido said.

“For example, it’s crucial for their safety that it’s not known how they move behind cover, how they approach buildings or suspects, or where, for example, snipers may be positioned,” information that could be revealed if the agency had to release footage from cameras worn by SWAT officers, she said.

The Orlando Police Department announced its intention to equip every patrol officer with a body cam in December, but at least twice this year officers have killed suspects when not wearing functioning cameras.

It happened most recently when three officers shot and killed 33-year-old Brian Baker at ORMC Oct. 1. None of the three had a working camera to record the fatal encounter, the agency later revealed.

One was a K9 officer, a category of officer to which the agency doesn’t issue the devices, Guido said, though she added that could change in the future. Another officer’s battery was dead following a

12-hour shift. The third was a patrol officer who was also a member of SWAT. When he put his SWAT gear on top of his regular uniform, the camera was covered, Guido said.

The agency has said other officers at the scene recorded footage of the shooting. The video has not been released because it is part of an open investigation by Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Because Orlando’s SWAT team is comprised of officers who have other primary duties, many wear cameras on their regular uniforms. When they transition into a SWAT role, they change into gear without one, Guido said.

In a pinch, an officer might put SWAT garb over their regular patrol uniform, like in the case at ORMC. Though Guido said the officers aren’t explicitly required to cover the camera or turn it off, the additional gear would obstruct its view.

Seminole County Sheriff ’s Office SWAT members don’t wear body cameras either — because the devices’ battery life and mounting aren’t “practical,” spokesman Bob Kealing said.

“The amount of time a SWAT operator is on a scene makes it prohibitive from a battery life perspective,” SCSO Special Operations Cpt. Mark Pergola said in an email. Pergola said testing showed that requiring a SWAT deputy to turn a camera off to save battery power and then back on in a crisis was “not feasible” and a distraction.

Pergola said a chestmounted camera also simply wouldn’t fit on a SWAT uniform without some obstruction to its view.

SCSO officials argued any footage that disclosed information on SWAT surveillance or tactics would be

exempt from release under Florida’s public record laws.

Orange County Sheriff’s Office SWAT members also don’t use cameras. Asked why, spokesman Jeff Williamson said only that “they do however have a plethora of tactics and tools they deploy to effectively fulfill their mission based upon OCSO policy, and generally accepted high risk incident command protocol.”

In Osceola, the Sheriff’s Office has yet to roll out cameras for any of its deputies but has said getting the equipment is in the works. It’s unclear whether that would include SWAT team members. A spokesperson didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

But Volusia County and Daytona Beach police SWAT team members have been outfitted with body cameras since now-Sheriff Mike Chitwood introduced the equipment to Daytona’s tactical team around 2014 when he served as chief, then brought them to the Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT team in 2017.

The agencies’ SWAT members use helmetmounted cameras to avoid any obstruction by their other equipment.

Chitwood said he doesn’t agree that suspects could learn a team’s tactics by studying body camera footage, an argument he called “a way to avoid” requiring SWAT members to wear the cameras. Chitwood noted that soldiers — including Navy SEALs — are now equipped with body-worn cameras.

“If you can wear a body camera on a raid in the U.S. military in a foreign country, why the hell can’t you wear it doing domestic policing?” Chitwood asked.

Kenneth Adams, a professor of criminal justice at University of Central Florida who focuses on police use of force, echoed Chitwood, saying an agency’s SWAT tactics are not sensitive enough to justify not recording

their activity.

“To me, my opinion is that this is not information that is so proprietary that it needs to be protected,” Adams said. “For typical SWAT operations in the U.S. with domestic police, the activities they engage in are a far cry from what elite military type units might go to in foreign countries.”

Volusia’s SWAT team uses the footage for training purposes and to gather intelligence in case they need to return to a house more than once, Chitwood said. An outspoken advocate for body cameras, Chitwood said all Volusia deputies have one, except for administrative command staff, courthouse deputies and training deputies.

Chitwood said his SWAT deputies’ cameras aren’t recording during mission briefings or discussions of tactics, only as the operation unfolds, which typically lasts about 30 minutes.

“If you’re talking about a long, drawn-out operation, I understand where they are coming from, because it’s constantly running,” Chitwood said of the camera’s battery life.

Battery issues prompted the Orlando Police Department to replace its body worn cameras with a different model just months after announcing it had equipped all officers with the devices.

The original devices’ short battery life was cited as a reason that officers failed to record the shooting of shoplifting suspect Juan Alberto Silva, 32, at the Colonial Plaza shopping center in May.

Neither of the two officers who shot Silva had a working camera: One officer’s camera battery had died, while the other had not yet been issued a body cam, the Police Department has said.