Dayton plans to audit body camera video
Programrecommended by police reformgroup to correct violations.
Dayton plans to acquire bodyworn cameras for police offifficers early this year, and police offifficials say video footage will be audited to try to ensure offifficers are complying with department policies and code of conduct rules.
ADaytonpolicereformcommittee recently recommendedpolice andcommunitymembersdevelop a newprogramto document and correct low-levelpolicy violations, which may be caught on camera and discovered during supervi
sors’ video audits.
Aprogramthat allows officers to self-report minor policy violations with reduced disciplinary consequences could help improve police work and job performance, saidDaytonMayorNanWhaley, co-leadoftherecruitment police reform group.
“Those could be teachable moments for us to have better culturemoving forward,” she said.
Lastyear, thepolice reform committee focused on use of force recommended the Dayton Police Department invest in body-worn cameras for officers.
The Dayton City Commissionacceptedtherecommendation and directed the city manager to identify funding and secure a vendor for implementing cameras this year. Dayton currently is the largest city in the state not to equip officers with the video technology.
The Dayton commission expects to soon vote purchasing new video-recording equipment — possibly later this month.
Thecity’s2021budget calls for using about $400,000 fromthe photo-enforcement traffic safety fund to pay for body cameras.
About 19 Dayton officers tested body-worn cameras between late July and early November, and officers equipped with cameras during the trial period were required to follow certain rules onwhen to record video, police officials said.
A temporary executive order modeled in part after the police department’s in-cruiser camera policy required officers to record video during traffic stops, pursuits, emergency runs, arrests in view of the camera, field interviews, prisoner transports and other circumstances, said Dayton police Major Paul Saunders, who is chief of staff for the police department.
Officersalsowere required to activate their cameras during citizen-generatedcalls for service and record video every shift, Saunders said.
The police department is developing policies around body-worn cameras, and the law department is helping with the review, police officials said.
Officials say it’s unclear right now how many police officerswillbeequippedwith cameras, butataminimumall patrolofficerswillwearthem.
Police supervisorsconduct regular audits that involve reviewing in-cruiser video footage to look for violations of policiesor codeofconduct rules, which are more serious offenses, Saunders said.
Video footage from bodyworn cameras is expected to undergo the same kind of audits, which are done both routinely and randomly, he said.
Police sergeants are requiredtoaudit cruiser-cam video footage of at least 10 officers every month, which doesnotincludevideoreviews relatedtoadministrativeinvestigations following events like police pursuits, use-of-force incidents and citizen complaints, Saunders said.
“All officers have to be reviewed at least twice in a quarter to ensure compliance ... with policy,” he said.
Saunders said policy violationsdiscoveredduringaudits oftendonotleadtodiscipline.
Instead, he said, officers oftenreceiveinstruction, guidance and training about how they could have better handled situations.
Membersoftherecruitment police reformgroup recently recommended developing a voluntaryandpossiblyself-reporting programfor low-level policyviolationsthatcouldbe similar to the airline industry’s Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP).
The ASAP programallows pilots and other employees to voluntarily report minor violations without normal disciplinary consequences to help educate workers, fix mistakes and improve safety.
Thereformgrouphasasked membersofthepolicedepartment, the police union, the reform group and other city staff to explore designing a programlikethis, officialssay.
“Correcting small issues hopefully makes big issues less likely to occur, and tracking them helps showif there is a need for additional training, changesinpolicy, orsome otherkindofcorrectiveaction onabroaderscale,”saidTorey Hollingsworth, senior policy aide in themayor’s office.
Discipline is meant to changebehavior, but the proposednewprogramhopefully would get the same kinds of resultswhile also improving lawenforcementculture, said Mayor Whaley.
Ellis Jacobs, an attorney and amemberof the recruitmentworking group, said he thinks the self-reporting program is an interesting idea the deserves further study and exploration.
He saidhewants toknowif it could improve officer performance without reducing accountability.
Many people are glad the city is moving forward with acquiring body cameras, but they are little more than expensive devices unless appropriate use policies are put in place, he said.
“With the right policies in place, they can be powerful tools for accountability,” he said.
‘Correcting small issues hopefullymakes big issues less likely to occur, and tracking them helps show if there is a need for additional training, changes in policy, or some other kind of corrective action on a broader scale.’
Torey Hollingsworth senior policy aide in the mayor’s office