NEWS

How D.M. police will use body cameras

MacKenzie Elmer
melmer@dmreg.com

By June, police Chief Dana Wingert wants every Des Moines officer in uniform to be wearing a body camera, a goal he says is “aggressive.”

“The battle cry a year and a half ago was ‘police accountability,’ ” Wingert told The Des Moines Register. “I think we’re over that hurdle. Law enforcement is on board with this. Now the issue becomes … the public privacy issue. How do you protect the privacy of the citizens?”

The department, which has nearly 300 sworn officers, received bids from seven body camera supply companies and is working to select a model that’s also compatible with its in-car camera system.

Wingert estimates that the body camera system will cost up to $1.4 million. Some of that money will come from private donors, including $125,000 from Rod French of Kenworth Mid-Iowa that was promised in May 2015. The department also plans to use money from property or cash forfeited to the department by criminals.

The rest, about half, will come from the department’s budget, Wingert said.

Wingert said he has met with the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and the Latino Forum and is making appearances at neighborhood association meetings to answer questions about body cameras and the new policy.

VIDEO: Gov. Branstad weighs in on body cameras and body camera footage

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Body cameras belonging to the Iowa City Police Department sit on their charging and data-transfer stations.

Claudia Thrane, a member of the Latino Forum, commended Wingert for his communication with her community. She strongly supports body cameras, which, she says, will hold police and residents accountable for their actions. But she said privacy is a big concern.

“The Latino community is very private; not everybody knows everybody,” Thrane said. “Let’s say it’s a sexual abuse case and that is going to be out in the public. I don’t want that.”

Arnold Woods Jr., president of the Des Moines NAACP, said the group shared a body camera policy template with the chief and plans to meet with Wingert again before June.

“We both had concerns about privacy issues: when and where to use them, surrounding the cameras themselves,” Woods said.

The Police Department’s policy will become public once body cameras officially are put in use, Wingert said. The department researched other department policies across the country to learn from their successes and mistakes, he said.

“If we had the body cameras today, I could sign that policy and be very comfortable with it,” he said. “But we’re not ready to deploy, and we have three or four months to go.”

Des Moines would join other Iowa departments that have begun using body cameras in the wake of public concern over police conduct and allegations of brutality in cities around the country. Waukee and Johnston are among the area police departments using them.

Other Des Moines-area communities using body cameras: Waukee | Johnston

Legislation that would have been the first of its kind in Iowa governing body cameras was declared dead this session. Committees will be assigned to investigate issues such as confidentiality of body camera audio and video, storage, retention and public inspection. Reports from those committees are expected at the start of next year’s session.

“I’m hopeful that, whatever the state is doing, they will look at what Des Moines and other communities in Polk County are doing already,” Woods said.

Over these next few months, Wingert said, he’ll watch for any case law or legal challenges on body cameras from other departments.

“And if we need to make adjustments, we can,” he said.

How Des Moines police will use body cameras

Here is what Chief Dana Wingert had to say about how body cameras will and won’t be used by Des Moines police:

Question: Who will be wearing body cameras?

Wingert: Essentially, anyone in a blue uniform, including officers on patrol, doing traffic, at the airport, school resource officers, neighborhood-based service delivery officers and officers who work off-duty in uniform.

Q: Who will be able to request and see the video?

Wingert: The department will comply with Iowa’s open-records law for body camera footage. Essentially, these videos will become public record once a criminal investigation is complete, just like dash camera footage from squad cars now.

Q: Where will Des Moines store its body camera footage?

Wingert: The department purchased a server to store video in-house, deciding that cloud storage is more expensive and risky if video should be lost.

Q: When can an officer turn a camera off?

Wingert: The policy doesn’t necessarily designate when officers should turn their camera on or off based on the type of crime or call.

As a rule, any interactions with the public an officer makes in his or her official capacity are going to be recorded. But, the officer can choose at times to turn off the camera.

“If the officer goes to that bar fight or that violent domestic, there’s not an option. That camera is going to run,” Wingert said. “But if they get there and the dust has settled, if you will, and the suspect is gone, and a domestic abuse victim is there and we’re simply taking a report and taking care of their needs on scene, there may be no reason to record.”

Q: Is there a penalty for turning the camera off at the wrong time?

Wingert: “The lack of use or misuse will be addressed on an individual basis.”

Violations will be handled through the same disciplinary process as violations of in-car camera systems.

Triggering events that would cause the administration to review video include resident complaints, use-of-force situations, police chases, or an officer involved in an accident.