Advisory board to review body cam policies

Move a response to shooting of Salaythis Melvin this month

Members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Citizens Advisory Committee decided to make recommendations about the agency’s use of body-worn cameras, as well as how those videos are released to the public, following growing criticism from the community and elected officials about its transparency in the deputy shooting of Salaythis Melvin earlier this month.

The committee decided Thursday night they would review the current body camera policies — which do not dictate how or when such videos should be released to the public — and come up with suggestions for how to improve the function of body cameras, expand their availability within the agency, and release the footage.

However, the citizens advisory committee, which provides policy recommendations to the sheriff, will not begin reviewing body camera policies until October, after deciding to skip their September monthly meeting.

OCSO officials wrote in a statement last week that it is working on developing a protocol for releasing body camera videos from deputy shootings after public outcry and demand for transparency. That protocol has not been finalized, and sheriff ’s officials told committee members at the meeting Thursday the agency currently follows Sunshine Laws, the state’s statutes on public records.

After first refusing to release of the body camera video that showed Deputy James Montiel on Aug. 7 fatally shooting Melvin, who was armed, in the back as he ran from the officer, OCSO later released six videos from the encounter last week, citing “intense public interest.”

The Sheriff’s Office has since released additional body camera videos, though only one has shown the actual shooting and it was filmed from a distance and through the deputy’s windshield.

The Sheriff’s Office has denied a public records request from the Sentinel, as well as attorneys representing Melvin’s family, for surveillance video of the shooting from the Florida Mall.

In the only body camera clip that shows the shooting, Melvin is seen running through the relatively empty mall parking lot, with no one immediately behind him for about 25 feet, when he falls to the ground mid-stride.

There’s no video from Montiel because he wasn’t equipped with a body camera, officials have said.

Deputies have said Melvin, 22, had a gun in his waistband as he ran from Montiel, who fired after Melvin turned his head while clutching the weapon. Officials found a stolen, loaded handgun near where Melvin fell. He later died at the hospital.

Officials from the sheriff’s office did not answer questions from the public or board members Thursday night, citing an active investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

“We’re not going to discuss recent shootings,” Capt. Carlos Espinoza, head of the OCSO’s Professional Standards section said when advisory member asked if he could confirm that Montiel did not have body camera. FDLE investigates all deputy shootings for the OCSO, which often takes months.

“I urge you to hold our sheriff to a higher standard,” one of the public comments said, which was read aloud.

“I am deeply disturbed by the shooting of Mr. Melvin … I cannot believe this shooting was in any way justified.”

Committee members respected that there was an active investigation, but the chair Allie Braswell Jr. asked that “as soon as [the investigation] is available, it be brought before and briefed to the committee.”

Board members asked questions about what deputies do not have body cameras, and if a team of deputies could go out on a call without any of them equipped with the devices — all issues they hope to later address in their policy review.

A statement from OCSO confirmed that almost 600 deputies, including Montiel, have not been outfitted a body-worn camera, though almost 1,100 have been issued.

The statement said all uniformed patrol officers have been outfitted.

The board on Thursday also finalized their recommendations to the agency’s use of force policies, a task that Sheriff John Mina had asked them to do as the nation focused on police excessive force after the death of George Floyd under the knee of a now-fired Minneapolis police officer.

They recommended the agency provide a definition of a chokehold and when it could be used, as well as clarify language for when deputies are required to intervene if they see another officer using excessive force — a change the sheriff’s union had wanted. The committee also recommended increasing deescalation training and providing each deputy of a copy of the “use-of-force matrix,” which deputies use to decide how much force is appropriate in different scenarios.

Mina did not make an appearance at the virtual meeting Thursday night, as he has done the last few meetings.