Majority of use-of-force incidents not recorded by Denver cops’ body cams
As the nation's policing agents scramble to provide street officers with body cameras, a new study released Wednesday shows that a majority of use-of-force incidents weren't captured by Denver police officers who are piloting use of the technology.
There were a host of reasons for officers failing to turn on the body worn cameras (BWCs) in violation of Denver Police Department policy. According to an independent police monitor's report, which surveyed the six months ending in December, only 26 percent of the use-of-force incidents in the studied policing district were captured on video.
Among the monitor's findings: (PDF)
"We identified several causes of this issue. First, BWCs were not assigned to supervisors or officers working off-duty during the pilot project, leaving 35 of the 80 uses of force unrecorded. Second, 45 of the incidents involved patrol officers to whom BWCs were assigned, and who were on-duty at the time they were involved in uses of force. Yet, just less than half (47 percent) of those use of force incidents were actually captured by BWCs. The remainder were not recorded either because the BWCs weren’t activated, or they weren’t used in a way that produced usable and complete footage."
Reasons for not recording included:
...the most common being that the encounters progressed or deteriorated too quickly for them to safely activate the BWC, as was reported in 11 of the 45 incidents. The second most common reason identified for lack of recording was user and/or equipment error, as was reported in five of the 45 incidents where the officers did not charge their units, could not download footage, or wore BWCs in a way that obscured the audio and/or video. In five of the 45 incidents, it is unknown if the BWC was used because the supervisor did not make any mention of it in the supervisor cover report; in one incident, the supervisor did mention that the BWC wasn’t activated but didn’t say why.
Nationwide, police agencies moving to adopt body cameras has become a new sensation as the public is seeking more accountability of officers following the August 9 shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting, which was not videotaped, has prompted widespread protests and left some demanding more transparency and a technological solution. Even President Barack Obama chimed in, pledging a $75 million program to fund the devices for police departments across the US.
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There were a host of reasons for officers failing to turn on the body worn cameras (BWCs) in violation of Denver Police Department policy. According to an independent police monitor's report, which surveyed the six months ending in December, only 26 percent of the use-of-force incidents in the studied policing district were captured on video.
Among the monitor's findings: (PDF)
"We identified several causes of this issue. First, BWCs were not assigned to supervisors or officers working off-duty during the pilot project, leaving 35 of the 80 uses of force unrecorded. Second, 45 of the incidents involved patrol officers to whom BWCs were assigned, and who were on-duty at the time they were involved in uses of force. Yet, just less than half (47 percent) of those use of force incidents were actually captured by BWCs. The remainder were not recorded either because the BWCs weren’t activated, or they weren’t used in a way that produced usable and complete footage."
Reasons for not recording included:
...the most common being that the encounters progressed or deteriorated too quickly for them to safely activate the BWC, as was reported in 11 of the 45 incidents. The second most common reason identified for lack of recording was user and/or equipment error, as was reported in five of the 45 incidents where the officers did not charge their units, could not download footage, or wore BWCs in a way that obscured the audio and/or video. In five of the 45 incidents, it is unknown if the BWC was used because the supervisor did not make any mention of it in the supervisor cover report; in one incident, the supervisor did mention that the BWC wasn’t activated but didn’t say why.
Nationwide, police agencies moving to adopt body cameras has become a new sensation as the public is seeking more accountability of officers following the August 9 shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting, which was not videotaped, has prompted widespread protests and left some demanding more transparency and a technological solution. Even President Barack Obama chimed in, pledging a $75 million program to fund the devices for police departments across the US.
Read More
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