City to spend $4.5M for new body cameras
The City of Columbus is set to invest at least $4.5 million in new body camera technology to replace the cameras currently worn by police officers, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther announced Thursday.
The new cameras, which Ginther hopes to have implemented by the end of 2021, would have increased video quality and include new features to capture audio and video in situations where it is needed most.
The announcement comes a month after 47-yearold Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man, was shot and killed by former Columbus police officer Adam Coy, who was responding to a nonemergency disturbance call about a vehicle running on and off. Coy has since been fired, and an investigation into possible criminal charges in the shooting is underway.
Ginther said the new cameras will have wireless
technology that will allow the footage to be transferred through new dashboard cameras, as well as an increased lookback feature.
The current camera technology, first implemented in 2016, captures 60 seconds of video footage — but no audio — prior to the camera being turned on by the officer. Because neither Coy nor officer Amy Detweiler turned on their body cameras until after Coy shot Hill, there is no audio of any verbal communication between officers and Hill.
The new technology would have functions allowing the camera to automatically turn on when an officer exits their cruiser on an emergency or priority run, as well as the ability to have the footage watched live by supervisors.
>>Watch the press conference here
The changes will have to be negotiated with the Fraternal Order of Police in a memorandum of understanding, which is outside of the ongoing union contract negotiations. Ginther said he hopes to have that negotiation completed “in short order.”
During a news conference Thursday, City Council President Shannon G. Hardin also announced proposed changes to city code that would be called “Andre’s Law.”
The changes would require officers to activate their body cameras during any enforcement action and other specific instances. It also would require officers to request medical aid in situations where force is used and serious bodily harm is done, as well as rendering aid in other circumstances.
The proposed “Andre Law” is the result of body cameras not being turned on until after Hill was shot and the failure of several Columbus police officers to render aid to him as he lay mortally wounded. Hill was at the entrance of a garage at a home where he was an invited guest on the 100 block of Oberlin Drive on the Northwest Side.
Officers who do not follow the proposed changes, if enacted, could be subject to internal discipline. In “egregious situations” they could face a criminal charge of dereliction of duty, Hardin said.
“This will not solve all police violence, but it’s one more step in the right direction,” Hardin said. “If officers don’t comply, there can be greater accountability.”
The legislation is expected to be introduced at Monday’s council meeting for a first reading and could be amended before it is approved.
Ginther said he and Hardin are committed to providing officers with training, equipment and resources, such as tourniquet kits and bandages.
Police Chief Tom Quinlan also said Thursday that he is working to develop a real-time dashboard for supervisors to be better able to identify officers who may need early intervention.
“Consider an officer who has recently been a first responder on a SIDS death, a teen traffic fatality, three overdose deaths, two homicides, a suicide and five domestic violence calls — all within a month’s time,” Quinlan said. “These are the officers we want to engage in early intervention and offer resources to assist them with whatever is going on in their personal and work life.”
The system would not be punitive and designed to help officers cope so they are better able to serve the public, the chief said.
The changes in camera technology and the dashboard creation will take time, but Ginther and Quinlan said they are making it a top priority for 2021.
“This is not a one-time fix or upgrade or solution,” Ginther said. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner