Body cam usage urged
Many Denver police officers disciplined for violating policy
Dozens of Denver police officers have been disciplined this year for violating the department’s body camera policy, and the city’s police watchdog is urging the department to provide more training to officers on when to activate their cameras.
Independent monitor Nick Mitchell identified at least 55 occasions in early 2017 when officers potentially violated the department’s body camera policy, according to his semi-annual report released Oct. 11. The monitor did not elaborate on each of the 55 cases.
Police commanders believe they are getting the problem under control. They identified the issue after the department’s rollout of body cameras was completed in early 2017, said Cmdr. James Henning of the investigative support division.
Instances of officers failing to activate their cameras have declined in the second half of the year since a new training video was issued and a system for auditing officers’ use was put in place, he said.
“We got the message out to the troops that we’re monitoring it,” Henning said. “You know what, we’re serious.”
Body cameras grew in popularity for police departments after the 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. Communities began demanding that departments use
body cameras to improve police accountability. Departments have embraced them as tools for gathering evidence in criminal cases and as a way to protect officers from false claims of abuse.
But the rollouts have not always been smooth.
In Denver, Mitchell was critical of the department’s pilot program after his analysis found only one in four use-of-force incidents were recorded. He recommended changes, including a requirement that officers wear them while working off-duty private security jobs, that have been adopted.
In Miami, an audit by the city’s Civilian Investigative Panel found dozens of cops weren’t using them to record incidents or weren’t uploading the footage, per department rules. And civil rights groups in Boston questioned that police department’s transparency in implementing body cameras.
Then there are the highprofile fatal police shootings where officers failed to activate their cameras.
For example, officers’ cameras failed to record the fatal 2016 shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La. A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer in North Carolina did not activate his body camera until after he shot and killed Keith Scott in September 2016. And, more recently, a Minneapolis police officer and his partner had not turned on body cameras or dashboard cameras when he shot and killed 40-year-old Justine
Damond as she approached their squad car.
Denver police officers also have failed to activate a camera during a shooting. Two of the three officers who had been assigned body cameras in the June 2016 shooting of James Bronish did not turn on their cameras. Bronish was wounded by police after he pointed a gun at passers-by from a Lower Downtown apartment balcony.
Henning acknowledged that it only takes one controversial case where an officer fails to turn on his body camera for people to question the department’s credibility. That’s why it is important to hammer home to officers that they must use them, he said.
Thus far this year, 53 Denver officers have been disciplined for failing to use their body cameras, according to statistics provided by the police department. In 2016, eight officers were punished.
Cameras are worn by more than 1,400 DPD officers, including patrolmen, traffic officers and those who are working off-duty security jobs.
“In the grand scheme of things, we’re doing pretty darn good,” Henning said.
Officers are supposed to turn on cameras when they first encounter someone during a stop or 911 call. The department has a disciplinary system for those who fail to do so with a written reprimand being issued after the first offense.
For most officers, remembering to activate the camera is muscle memory and habit, Henning said.
After recognizing a problem earlier in the year, the department created a training video and required all officers to watch it. The training cleared up some confusion, he said.
For example, some officers mistakenly thought they did not have to turn on their cameras if another officer at the scene already had.
“We looked at all of the activations and asked why we weren’t getting some,” he said.
While the department is still perfecting its system for auditing each officer’s usage, commanders do have a system for monitoring it, Henning said. They look at how many times an officer activates a camera during a shift. If they see a low number, they start asking questions, he said.
Still, Mitchell, said he will be paying attention to body-camera usage.
“The OIM will be carefully watching to gauge the effectiveness of the training provided, and will conduct additional analysis and make further recommendations if the high rate of potential violations continues,” the report said.