Body camera not used during
officer-involved shooting
New information in one
officer-involved shooting raises questions about how often police are using
body cameras and dash cameras.
NEW ORLEANS - They were touted
as a way to increase officer accountability, but new information in one
officer-involved shooting raises questions about how often police are using
body cameras and dash cameras.
"It's an unbiased
unvarnished record of exactly what happened," said former New Orleans
Police Department Superintendent Ronal Serpas when the body cameras were rolled
out in the spring.
But that wasn't the case in an officer-involved
shooting last month in the 3600 block of Mimosa Court in Algiers.
Officer Lisa Lewis wasn't
wearing a body camera when she shot Armand Bennett, 26, in the head during a
traffic stop, said NOPD spokesman Tyler Gamble. Her partner's camera wasn't
turned on, and neither was the police cruiser dash cam, said Gamble.
"I'm very concerned about
that, and hope that the fact there is no video will glorify or highlight that
officers can turn these cams off and on," said Nandi Campbell, Bennett's
attorney.
Video could have shown whether
Bennett fought with the officer- a key disparity in Bennett's version of the
incident and the NOPD's.
And a recent report shows the
issue may be widespread. Dash cameras are required by the NOPD consent decree,
but a team of monitors released a report this month showing only a third of
incidents involving use of force were recorded.
Gamble added the consent decree
monitor examined use of force reports made before body cameras were fully
instituted, though dash cameras were already in place at the time.
NOPD policy requires patrol
officers to turn on body cameras during traffic stops and calls for service.
"There has to be
consequences for officers failing to comply with police department orders to
initiate and engage that technology when they're dealing with the public,"
said Rafael Goyeneche, head of the Metropolitan Crime Commission.
NOPD now confirms that Bennett
was unarmed. His attorney says he is recovering from the graze wound. And as
police investigate the shooting, Campbell said she has launched her own
investigation and is calling for more accountability when it comes to whether
officers are turning on their cameras.
The NOPD's Public Integrity
Bureau is awaiting scientific test results before completes its criminal
investigation and recommends whether charges should be filed against Lewis,
said Simone Levine, a deputy police monitor.
The Independent Police
Monitor's office is very concerned by the lack of video, and is pushing for PIB
to investigate whether Lewis violated administrative policies.
Nearly a month after Eyewitness
News requested an incident report, the NOPD records department made it
available for release last week, though the report reveals very little.
Campbell claims Lewis and her
partner also had their cameras off when they stopped Bennett 10 days earlier,
but NOPD says Lewis camera was on.
"We're going to do
everything we can to increase the transparency and accountability of the NOPD
as a whole," said Gamble. "We're going to address these types of
issues on a case-by-case basis. It may require training or it may require
discipline."
Supervisors randomly review the
video, but the department is working to refine its policies and will look at
training or disciplining officers who violate them, said Gamble.
Police were initially
criticized for not letting the public know about the officer-involved shooting
until days later, though Serpas said he approved a press release about the
incident but a public information officer accidentally failed to send it.
