Columbia's Citizens Police Review Board is continuing its audit of police department policies. This time they were looking at the one on body-worn cameras and whether there are any suggestions for updates.
Resident concerns centered on rules about when a camera is activated (providing examples of when it should have happened by all officers, but did not); when turned off or still recording video, but audio is muted; storage capacity and video storage timeframes.
There are trade-offs with body-worn camera technology, Assistant Chief Paul Dickinson said. The policy as it is currently written notes that officers shall activate a body-worn camera during official duties when interacting with citizens. So, this is when some form of law enforcement activity is involved and excepts general public interactions, such as providing directions or general greetings.
Not every public interaction is recorded because officers are on 12-hour shifts and the batteries in their cameras would not necessarily last through it if it was on for every single interaction, Dickinson said.
If an officer is part of a more active situation, there is a safety priority in place, which may have led to inactivation in of a body-worn camera, but that turning them on has become second nature for many seasoned officers, Dickinson said.
"We never know how an officer will react until they are put in a situation," he said, explaining the safety priority is hostage or victim first, then suspect and then self.
If an officer fails to activate a camera, they must report this failure. While there was some derision from community members present, Dickinson said officers are very willing to self report.
There also are times when a camera may be off during a law enforcement activity, such as during tactical operation planning in the field, so that information does not become public at a later date to prevent countertactic development. Other law enforcement activities where a camera isn't activated is when officers are working with a confidential informant, to protect that informant's safety and identity.
The police department is studying the policy and trying to find a balance, Dickinson shared, noting more video could be stored than what it is currently held based on the Axon contract. In Missouri, at a bare minimum, video footage has to be stored for 30 days, unless attached to a case number, and then other storage requirements apply.
Camera activation failure may become a moot point in the future as the department is looking to budget for new body-worn cameras that can be auto-activated on certain programmed triggers, such as turning on lights and sirens or even unclipping a gun or Taser holster.
The Police Executive Research Forum in a report issued in December notes that after a decade of police departments adopting body-worn camera policies and procedures it is "universally agreed that cops find body cameras invaluable."
"Among the innovations highlighted in the report is the use of body cameras as a performance management tool. For example, some agencies are using body camera footage to review critical incidents with an eye towards future improvement," PERF wrote about the report in January. "And many agencies use routine audits of camera footage, conducted either by supervisors or by a dedicated unit, to ensure officers are complying with agency policy."
Along with the the department preparing to budget for auto-activated cameras, it also is exploring creating a new position for a digital evidence technician, whose whole job is focused on video management, tagging and more, Dickinson said.
Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.
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