ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Albuquerque
police are going to require officers to use cameras to record all encounters
with the public.
The Albuquerque Journal reports
(http://bit.ly/KO6kVn) that the department is slated to put the new
requirement, an expansion of a current policy, into effect Sunday.
Presently, officers are required to
use small, digital lapel-mounted cameras to record searches and disorderly
conduct arrests. But under the new requirement, the small cameras will be on
every time an officer interacts with a member of the public.
Police Chief Ray Schultz said the
change was recommended by the Police Oversight Commission. He said the
department has purchased about 200 of the newer pen cameras for about $60
apiece.
"Hopefully, this will help to
resolve some of the issues that have been ongoing," Schultz said,
referring to officers' versions of events, particularly in use of force cases,
being called into question by community groups.
The new cameras also come as the
department faces heat from civil rights groups for 24 officer-involved
shootings — 17 fatal — since 2010. They have been pressing for a U.S. Justice
Department investigation into the shootings, but federal officials have not said
if they would probe the department.
Meanwhile, the Albuquerque Police
Department has instituted a number of reforms, including raising the
requirements for incoming officers and having an independent
review panel look into all
officer-involved shootings.
By last summer, each of the more
than 650 uniformed officers had been issued a lapel camera, Schultz said. The
department has bought more than 1,200 of the easily breakable cameras for about
$100 each since the department began ordering them in 2010.
Schultz said the new pen cameras
will help with investigations. "We continue to see good results where the
officers are exonerated after having false complaints made against them,"
he said.
Schultz said the policy change is
likely to create a "logistical nightmare" for APD administrative
staff. The department's officers respond to more than 1,500 calls for service
per day on average.
"The technology still continues
to emerge, and it is not yet perfect," he said. "We're trying to work
through the bugs, and the biggest problem for us is going to be how to copy and
retain the video from the cameras."
Officers can be reprimanded for not
turning on their recorders, Schultz said. An officer could be fired if he or
she repeatedly fails to record encounters.
Lapel cameras hold about six hours
of video. The pen cameras hold less than two hours.
