So it just seems inconsistent that they wouldn’t allow us to use them with federal programs."Īll Austin police, including detectives, have been equipped with body cameras since last year. "The federal government put a large amount of funding behind body-worn camera programs around this country for a reason, because it’s recognized as a best practice and best tool. "This boils down to common-sense use of current technology," Manley said. Now, several other departments are considering following Atlanta's lead, including Austin police, who have been in discussions with federal authorities for a year trying to change the policy, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told the American-Statesman. The department's police chief didn't learn her officers couldn't wear the body cameras until after the incident, the Washington Post reported. Last month, the Atlanta Police Department was the first department to withdraw because of this issue, following a deadly raid in which an officer working on an FBI fugitive task force shot and killed a wanted but unarmed man. The Justice Department aims to invest $1.3 billion in community policing, which includes $13.6 million for Task Force Officer Body Worn Camera Support.The Austin Police Department is one of several from across the country that's considering pulling out of federal task forces because of the feds' objections to officers wearing body cameras. Law enforcement experts, such as Chuck Wexler of the Police Executive Research Forum, say video of incidents involving the use of force by police are critical training tools for improving effectiveness at departments across the country. The call for law enforcement officers to wear body cameras has increased especially after the 2020 deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and other people of color. “I am proud of the job performed by the Department’s law enforcement agents, and I am confident that these policies will continue to engender the trust and confidence of the American people in the work of the Department of Justice,” Monaco wrote in the memo. In 90 days, Monaco says, the Executive Office for US Attorneys should develop training for prosecutors regarding the use of body-worn camera recordings as evidence, building on existing trainings related to the discovery implications of these recordings. Monaco directed the leaders of federal law enforcement agencies like the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the US Marshals to develop and submit to the Justice Department their own policies in 30 days on how they’ll use body-worn cameras and to “designate a senior official with responsibility for implementation and oversight of its BWC policy.” The law enforcement officers involved were not wearing body cameras since the US Marshals Service started to “phase-in” the October 2020 policy in February, according to a news release on Saturday. was fatally shot during an arrest attempt by two sheriff’s deputies serving with the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force. Monaco’s memo follows a deadly shooting in Minnesota last week during which Winston Boogie Smith Jr. Situations that will now require body cameras may include serving arrest warrants, executing other planned arrest operations and executing search warrants, according to the memo. In October 2020, then-Attorney General William Barr permitted state and local law enforcement officers assisting federal task forces to wear cameras but still barred federal agents from doing so. The Justice Department will require federal agents to wear and activate cameras whenever encountering the public “during pre-planned law enforcement operations,” according to a memo issued by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.Īs a part of the Justice Department’s continued efforts to build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, Monaco reversed a long-standing department policy against federal agents wearing body cameras.
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