35 W MAIN STE 300 ! SPOKANE ! WA 99201 ! 509.835.5211 ! CFORJUSTICE.

ORG


}uly 16, 2u14
Fiank Stiaub, Chief of Police
Timothy B. Schweiing, Biiectoi of Stiategic Initiatives
Spokane Police Bepaitment
11uu West Nallon
Spokane, WA 9926u

Sent via email

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Beai Chief Stiaub anu Ni. Schweiing:

We ievieweu a copy of Bouy Cameias Policy 7uS ("Policy"), anu this lettei seives as oui initial
feeuback on its content. We anticipate pioviuing moie specific comments as we aie able to
moie thoioughly ieseaich anu uiscuss the Policy. Allowing community oiganizations to give
feeuback on such policies piioi to implementation is a goou piactice in community-oiienteu
policing anu is consistent with the 0se of Foice Commission's iecommenuations. Nany of oui
conceins echo the ACL0's iesponse lettei, but oui focus is on the lack of tianspaiency anu
accountability that the Policy pioviues. We iecognize the extiemely complex natuie of bouy
cameia policies, as ieflecteu among many juiisuictions thioughout not only Washington, but
the entiie nation. As such, we encouiage the Bepaitment to seek community feeuback, to
incoipoiate best piactices, anu to consiuei the Attoiney ueneial's upcoming iesponse to
Senatoi Billig's inquiiy, piioi to any Policy finalization oi implementation.

The Centei foi }ustice anu unueisigneu oiganizations suppoit the "Puipose" statement of the
Policy that "Bouy cameias aie a valuable tool in piomoting tianspaiency." This tianspaiency
applies both to the actions of officeis anu to the citizens with whom they inteiact.
0nfoitunately, the cuiient veision of the Policy suppoits a puipose mostly of uiscietionaiy
suiveillance, not of tianspaiency anu accountability.

The 0se of Foice Commission's iecommenuation to use bouy cameias was, of couise, in the
context of the goal of cieating tianspaiency anu accountability in oiuei to ieuuce use of foice
anu to builu tiust with the public. 0sing bouy cameias without significant changes to the
cuiient uiaft of the policy, incluuing those outlineu below, will only uamage the public tiust
which the Bepaitment has woikeu haiu to builu.



Body Camera Policy Comments
July 16, 2014
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35 W MAIN STE 300 ! SPOKANE ! WA 99201 ! 509.835.5211 ! CFORJUSTICE.ORG


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Without specific ciiteiia about when the bouy cameias must be activateu, cameias will not be
an effective tool foi oveisight. If left to officei uiscietion, theie coulu be inconsistent usage,
which will unueimine both the cameia's oveisight value anu the public's tiust in oui police
uepaitment. The uiaft Policy oiiginally incluueu many piovisions that suppoit the puipose of
tianspaiency, but, those sections have been ueleteu.

The cuiient Policy lacks activation anu ue-activation ciiteiia, as uetaileu below:

0nuei the section entitleu "Activation of the Bouy Cameia," the Policy states that "Each
patiol officei shall activate the bouy cameia at the outset of each inciuent !"#$" &''()
*'$+*,#-. $*#('*#/01 |emphasis auueuj. Bowevei, the Policy contains no such ciiteiia.

With iegaius to ue-activation, the Policy seems to iequiie that an officei activate the
cameia unless the officei feels that this woulu jeopaiuize hishei safety. But the Policy
also pioviues two non-exhaustive lists of scenaiios that may also justify ue-activation,
with no ciiteiia to guiue what othei situations may fall within those lists. The Policy
statement, "2("'* )#(3/(#+-) may waiiant ue-activation." is not sufficient |emphasis
auueuj.

To accomplish its stateu Puipose as an effective tianspaiency tool, the Policy must pioviue
specific manuates to officeis about activation anu ue-activation, anu cleai expectations about
consequences foi failing to comply.

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Recoiueu meuia shoulu be ietaineu longei than the cuiient Policy pioviues in oiuei to seive
its puipose of tianspaiency anu accountability. Pei the Policy, iecoiueu meuia that the
Bepaitment believes uoes not contain an inciuent can be uestioyeu aftei Su uays, anu an
officei can iequest that non-inciuent "acciuental" viueo also be uestioyeu. All iecoiueu meuia
shoulu be ietaineu the noimal peiiou foi uepaitment iecoiu ietention.

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We aie extiemely conceineu about the Policy's lack of post-iecoiuing pioceuuies anu the
ueletion of language that attempteu to pioviue the most accountability in this aiea. We
auvocate foi the cieation of cleai pioceuuies that incluue inteinal anu exteinal oveisight to
govein the following aieas:

Body Camera Policy Comments
July 16, 2014
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35 W MAIN STE 300 ! SPOKANE ! WA 99201 ! 509.835.5211 ! CFORJUSTICE.ORG


0veisight of 0fficei Classification of Recoiueu Neuia - Pei the cuiient Policy, officeis
each classify theii own viueo (eviuentiaiy, investigative, othei, anu the categoiy). We
believe that theie must be oveisight anu supeivision of each officei's classification
uecisions. This language oiiginally existeu in the Policy, but it was ueleteu.

Chain of Custouy -Without cleai "chain of custouy" pioceuuies, incluuing supeivisoiy
oi inuepenuent oveisight of the classification anu ietention piocess, viueos will not be
auequately piotecteu anu public skepticism will inciease about the legitimacy of the
entiie bouy cameia piogiam. We iecommenu auuing veiy cleai "chain of custouy"
pioceuuies to avoiu those iesults.

Access to Recoiueu Neuia by Citizen Complainants, Inteinal Affaiis, anu the 0ffice of
Police 0mbuusman - The Policy section entitleu, "Review of Bouy Cameia viueo" uoes
not expiessly allow a citizen complainant, an Inteinal Affaiis investigatoi, oi the 0ffice
of Police 0mbuusman to ieview viueo. We believe that it is ciitical that those paities
be able to view viueo ielevant to complaints anu investigations outsiue of the public
iecoius iequest piocess.

Pioceuuies foi Cameia Nalfunction while an officei is on Shift - Auuing cleai
pioceuuies foi cameia malfunctions uuiing a shift will piomote public buy-in,
tianspaiency, accountability, anu officei safety.

0nauthoiizeu 0se- The entiie section iegaiuing unauthoiizeu use was ueleteu. This
section containeu impoitant piotections against inappiopiiate use. We iecommenu
that language be auueu to claiify both manuateu use anu unauthoiizeu use anu to
pioviue foi veiy cleai consequences if use is unauthoiizeu.


"#$%&'()#$

This is an extiemely complicateu issue anu Spokane is not alone in giappling with its
complexity. Foi this ieason, we expect the Bepaitment to solicit feeuback, to utilize best
piactices, anu to wait foi the Attoiney ueneial's legal opinion befoie finalizing anu
implementing a Bouy Cameia Policy. In view of the 0se of Foice Commission
Recommenuation #2 iegaiuing tianspaiency in uuilu negotiations, we also ask that the
Bepaitment pioviue infoimation to the public iegaiuing what steps in this policy-
uevelopment piocess have alieauy occuiieu anu pioviue oppoitunities foi public
paiticipation, piioi to any policy being finalizeu.



Body Camera Policy Comments
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35 W MAIN STE 300 ! SPOKANE ! WA 99201 ! 509.835.5211 ! CFORJUSTICE.ORG


We suppoit the Bepaitment taking conciete steps to inciease accountability anu
tianspaiency, but we believe that the Bouy Cameia Policy as it cuiiently exists lacks ciitical
piovisions to accomplish this puipose.

Thank you foi youi consiueiation.

Sinceiely,

Centei foi }ustice
Peace anu }ustice Action League of Spokane
Bon't Shoot!
0aktiee
Spokane Police Accountability Refoim Coalition

Cc:
Spokane City Councilmembeis
Nancy Isseilis, Spokane City Attoiney
Naiy Nuiamatsu, Spokane City Attoiney's 0ffice
Tim Buins, Spokane Police 0mbuusman
}amela Bebelak, ACL0 of Washington
Eail "Naity" Naitin, 0se of Foice Commission Chaii