Body Worn Cameras Fail Again
Let’s demand proper stewardship of body worn camera footage. Let’s face the fact that the consequences to citizens, by creating public records, persist long after the video is erased from the server.
Body worn cameras fail to deliver what they promise
Police body worn cameras (BWC) again failed to live up to their promise. Taser had an entertaining series of advertisements selling their early Axon camera systems. Suspect actors would act deranged but after seeing the video in court were contrite and humble. The brass sold them to street cops promising they would be vindicated against false accusations.
One promise was to change the behavior of officers by using constant surveillance while they are doing a difficult job. Major studies have shown it hasn’t worked. In fact, the occasions where officer conduct becomes criminal behavior are as exceedingly rare as they were prior to widespread use of body worn cameras. The supposed ‘bad apples’ argument doesn’t hold water either as bad cops just can’t help themselves and fellow officers are rarely surprised when the crooked get caught.
Two recent events, as well as an ongoing situation, made me take further note of the shortcomings of BWC and the negative impact on the greater law enforcement community.
Othal Wallace was convicted of manslaughter
On June 23, 2021, Othal Wallace mortally shot Daytona Beach Police Officer Jason Raynor. Officer Raynor died 55 days later on 8/17/2021 due to a gunshot wound to the head from the gun fired by Wallace. None of these facts were ever in dispute and there was BWC footage of the encounter. Wallace was arrested three days later hiding in a treehouse on a black nationalist compound near Atlanta.
While Wallace was a hunted fugitive, the police department chose to publicly release the 30 second encounter from Raynor’s BWC. News outlets struggled with the decision to show the interaction up to and including the gunshot. Chief Jakari Young stated at the time, “we released it for a purpose.”
On September 16, 2023, due to a change of venue, Othal Wallace was convicted in Clay County, Florida, in a jury trial of manslaughter. Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood, a former Daytona Beach police chief made several statements including:
“The message I take away from this jury is that it's open season on law enforcement.” He also tweeted, Chitwood wrote his “faith” in juries has been shaken before.
“I have seen juries ignore video evidence and disregard victims. I have never been more disgusted by a verdict than I am today,”
Current Daytona Beach Police Chief Young also made a strong statement:
“Today's verdict comes with a deep sense of disappointment and frustration for me and the dedicated men and women of the Daytona Beach Police Department who are still grieving the loss of Officer Jason Raynor, it is difficult to come to terms with a verdict that is not commensurate with the despicable crime that was committed or the loss that we and Jason's loved ones have endured,” he wrote.
Local news reports describe the law enforcement community as outraged and rightfully so. My question has been answered about BWC. Despite the promise, they are not what we have been sold.
Officer Auderer was caught on a hot mike
In a case that defies all levels of reason, Seattle Police Officer Daniel Auderer was recorded (in January 2023) on his BWC after he forgot to turn it off assisting at a death investigation where another officer struck and killed a graduate student.
Even if you are familiar with the story, it is vital to remember that Auderer was not the officer involved in the death of pedestrian struck by a Seattle officer on the way to an emergency call. It is also important to remember that everyone who hears the conversation is only hearing one side of the call.
Auderer forgot to turn his BWC off leaving the scene and made a phone call to the guild (union) president, Solan, in his capacity as vice-president. Listeners interpret the laughter as callous and dehumanizing, and it is vital to understand that union leadership have the experience and role as risk managers and mitigators.
Whoever reviewed that footage and called it to the attention of senior staff, were the party that made the discretionary choice. Auderer’s accusers will claim that he is at work and has no expectation of privacy. He actually does have a limited expectation of privacy. Plenty of cops, male and female, accidentally leave their cameras on and go to the bathroom after calls, however you never see that being publicized nationally. I bet – wisely - that the same person who called attention and preserved Auderer’s partial conversation deletes a lot of non-relevant video.
YouTube channels store BWC, even on minor offenses
Grace is an exotic dancer in Ohio, also a drunk driver, and according to the video title, urinated in the back seat of a squad car. In one day, today, on the YouTube channel Law&Crime Network, with 5.25 million subscribers her video has racked up 361,000 views and growing fast. Code Blue Cam channel only has 1.8 million subscribers however their video of cops surprising a man who escaped by arresting him at his home has accumulated 4.6 million views. Their top videos hit 20,000,000 views; numbers that CNN and MSNBC envy.
These videos, from public records requests, showing people at their worst, result in the most modest of penalties. Five hours ago, a video of a shoplifter was dropped and has 235,000 views.
Everyone knows someone who would make great bodycam footage, and in doing so it would ruin their life.
We must be brave and call this what it is: state enabled exploitation.
I wrote about this in my previous article body worn cameras, that while law enforcement agencies have records retention parameters, Facebook and YouTube are forever. BWC are not going away, or better said, the funding for BWC is not going away. Officers in sunbelt jurisdictions are told that the $50 for squad car window tinting isn’t budgeted but teraflops of useless data needs to be preserved.
I’m not asking for the elimination of video. Let’s demand the proper stewardship of body worn camera footage. Let’s face the facts and acknowledge the limitations and the undeserved consequences to citizens from creating public records that will persist long after the video is erased from the law enforcement server.
In the wake of the verdict, let’s remember in prayer the family of Jason Raynor, his LEO family at the Daytona Beach Police Department and his LEO family at the Port Orange Police Department.
References
https://daytonanewsjournal-fl.newsmemory.com?selDate=20230919&goTo=D01&artid=0
Auderer submitted an Aug. 8 letter to the officer’s guild
https://www.manhattan-institute.org/bodycam-footage-isnt-building-bridges
https://www.city-journal.org/should-prosecutors-release-videos-of-officer-involved-shootings
You've outdone yourself as usual! Interesting perspective on BWCs. And the outrage by the law enforcement community is most certainly justified!
My department was one of the first major police departments to outfit all police officers with body cams.
At first. It was a pain. The data storage. Tagging videos and adding case numbers to every call. It was an extra hour of admin work every day.
But, after a few years - I would never take a call without wearing one. As union rep and IA investigator - I have seen them vindicate so many good cops who were falsely accused.
I’m curious. Thoughts on the Ma’kaya Bryant case? They were getting ready to riot until the PD quickly released body cam.
Great article!!!