City Hall
SPD Outlines Obstacles to Cop Cam Proposal
Tomorrow afternoon, the city council's technology committee will get a first look at a report report from the Seattle Police Department on a proposal to deploy body-mounted cameras on cops.
SPD initially proposed testing four body-mounted cameras "by the end of the second quarter of 2011" so the council could decide whether to fund cameras throughout the department. Instead, SPD reports that the department has conducted preliminary testing of just one camera in "simulated police interactions," and found that the cameras don't record well when the officer is moving, raising his hands to fire a weapon, or touching a suspect physically.
"In addition, body cameras may be less useful than dashboard, surveillance or other types of cameras in many situations, because they do not provide any direct view of the actions of the officer who is wearing the camera."
The report also outlines a number of "obstacles to implementation," and suggests limiting the expanded pilot project to just 12 motorcycle officers.
Among the "obstacles" SPD identifies:
• Labor concerns. The use of body cameras could be subject to approval as part of the police union's contract negotiations.
• Legal concerns. Washington State law requires the consent of all parties to the conversation being recorded. Either officers would have to let suspects know they're being recorded, or the city would have to get an exemption to the law for body cameras.
• Privacy concerns. "In many cases, civilians will be engaged in situations or behavior they would not wish to have recorded, and potentially, released and distributed under public disclosure laws."
• Budget concerns. SPD says it can afford to do a small pilot project within its existing budget, but implementing the cameras department-wide would require major new funding. The city sought a $243,000 federal grant for 70 cameras, but the federal money hasn't come through.
The city's law department will sit in on tomorrow's meeting, where the two-party consent issue is expected to come up. Additionally, Harrell, the council's most vocal body-cam supporter, is likely to question SPD's proposal to use the cameras only on motorcycle cops, whose work is mostly limited to traffic stops, to get a better sense of how the cameras work in more potentially hostile interactions. Staffers also say that Harrell would like SPD to expand the pilot, which will use cameras on loan from Vievu, a Seattle-based body camera company.
SPD initially proposed testing four body-mounted cameras "by the end of the second quarter of 2011" so the council could decide whether to fund cameras throughout the department. Instead, SPD reports that the department has conducted preliminary testing of just one camera in "simulated police interactions," and found that the cameras don't record well when the officer is moving, raising his hands to fire a weapon, or touching a suspect physically.
"In addition, body cameras may be less useful than dashboard, surveillance or other types of cameras in many situations, because they do not provide any direct view of the actions of the officer who is wearing the camera."
The report also outlines a number of "obstacles to implementation," and suggests limiting the expanded pilot project to just 12 motorcycle officers.
Among the "obstacles" SPD identifies:
• Labor concerns. The use of body cameras could be subject to approval as part of the police union's contract negotiations.
• Legal concerns. Washington State law requires the consent of all parties to the conversation being recorded. Either officers would have to let suspects know they're being recorded, or the city would have to get an exemption to the law for body cameras.
• Privacy concerns. "In many cases, civilians will be engaged in situations or behavior they would not wish to have recorded, and potentially, released and distributed under public disclosure laws."
• Budget concerns. SPD says it can afford to do a small pilot project within its existing budget, but implementing the cameras department-wide would require major new funding. The city sought a $243,000 federal grant for 70 cameras, but the federal money hasn't come through.
The city's law department will sit in on tomorrow's meeting, where the two-party consent issue is expected to come up. Additionally, Harrell, the council's most vocal body-cam supporter, is likely to question SPD's proposal to use the cameras only on motorcycle cops, whose work is mostly limited to traffic stops, to get a better sense of how the cameras work in more potentially hostile interactions. Staffers also say that Harrell would like SPD to expand the pilot, which will use cameras on loan from Vievu, a Seattle-based body camera company.
