(CBS DETROIT) — The Detroit’s police chief is deeply concerned. One commissioner said there are still situations where officers don’t wear or turn off their body cameras.
“There is a need for an increase in regulatory reviews and continued audits of body-worn cameras,” Commissioner Willie Burton told CBS News Detroit.
Burton claims the board continues to see concerns about not wearing body cameras. He said the most recent case occurred during a recent pro-Palestinian protest after a Lieutenant was heard telling a woman to go back to Mexico.
“But there have been other situations a few years ago where there was a peaceful protest in the city of Detroit where officers were not wearing body-worn cameras, so now it’s becoming a growing problem,” Burton said.
Detroit police first started wearing body cameras in 2016 as part of a pilot program. CBS News Detroit is told that visually recording interactions between officers can clear up many misunderstandings.
“It really puts us in a difficult position when it comes to lawsuits and things like that. All of this can be avoided if we make sure our regulators get hold of the members,” Burton said.
With more than 2,000 officers, Burton claims some officers have been repeat offenders by not wearing their cameras. However, he is unclear how often audits are conducted on body cameras.
“We have good officers in this force. Some just don’t want to follow the policy,” he said.
Live: So we were hoping to interview someone from the department to clear things up.
CBS News Detroit asked Detroit police about Burton’s concerns. The department issued the following statement:
“The Department is aware of the concerns raised by the Board of Police Commissioners that some officers have failed to activate their body cameras. While the Council has raised these concerns, the Department is not aware of any systemic issues related to the failure to activate their body cameras. -use of body cameras among staff. Those caught not using their body cameras are subject to corrective action, as every officer in a car is required to wear a body-worn camera, in cases where a member fails to activate it. his or her camera, the images are captured by the other member’s device.
“The ministry has invested millions of dollars in body-worn camera technology. Every member is given a camera and the ministry has implemented a strong policy mandating its use. Although previous audits and inspections have not revealed any widespread patterns of non-use, the Department will conduct an audit of compliance with the BWC in an effort to address the Board’s concerns on this issue .”
