Comments

1
Does Councilmember Harrel's proposal leave enabling and disabling body-mounted cameras up to police officers?
2
Does Councilmember Harrell's proposal leave enabling and disabling body-mounted cameras up to police officers?
3
Is there actually anything that can be done? If he hasn't committed a crime doesn't that mean essentially he's cleared and the Guild won't allow anything at all to happen to him?
4
@1: Maybe hook a switch to the snap-strap on their gun holster. They draw their gun for any reason, or even get ready to draw it, we get the situation on tape automatically.
5
sickening you can get away with murder. yes to an important extent this is a police state. we need protection from the police, and apparently the law doesn't do that.
6
Maybe the Council should man up in their negotiations with the Guild, huh?

Shoulda woulda coulda - probably too late.
7
@1, no, it would not.

Officers are required by SPD policy to always use the (existing) in-car video system, for all citizen contacts, including their approach to the scene whenever possible, and report technical failures at the beginning of their shift, or immediately in cases where the system deactivates when they're on the street.

It is also SPD policy that officers are to be disciplined when they improperly fail to create recordings... so I can't imagine that SPD policy for officer-worn cameras would be any weaker than what they have today for the in-car cameras.

(By the way, if you go through old issues of The Guardian, you can find much evidence of just how much our cops hate being recorded on the job. Apparently they preferred the old days, where we just took their word for everything. Go figure.)

(You can see the policy stuff for yourself. Here's the SPD Policy & Procedure Manual. Section 17.260 covers in-car video.)
8
What happens with bike cops?
9
Good job, Harrell. Your statement today will assist the Williams family as they begin to seek justice (at least of the financial sort) from the city.

IAN BIRK = MURDERER
10
@9 Double that. This situation leaves anyone downtown wondering whether some loose cannon cop is going to drop them. Such a cop just cost the city of Everett $500,000, and several such settlements took place back in 1999. This use of deadly force was (in the FRB's words) "unjustified and outside of policy, tactics and training". The BART cop in Oakland got 2 years for his mistake. And Birk's just going to lose his job??
11
It's nice to see Bruce Harrell standing up on this issue... Would be even nicer to see more of our City Councilmembers doing so.

Please wait...

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