Body Camera Recommendation to Council on September 15th.

September 1, 2015 7:00 am

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what they are, there is no information available to the public – I guess we’ll find out in the next 14 days, when it goes to council? Um, was there going to be general public input as to any of this? Wouldn’t that be important for the committee to consider?

This all flies in the face of what I thought was going to happen. Apparently there were one-on-one interviews and focus groups – a plan put together by (I don’t know who for sure). There were only 4 public meetings and only one held at 5:00 – the others were at 9am, 1pm and 1:30pm. Screw the public, I guess.

As far as I can tell, the COMMUNITY POLICING AND BODY CAMERA AD HOC COMMITTEE is ready to give their recommendation and report. I’m pretty shocked, as I didn’t hear or see and attempts to seek public input.

As far as I can see this is what has happened to date:

2/3 – Common council adopts resolution and appoints members

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Common Council requests that the Mayor hire a project manager by March 2, 2015. The project manager will:
· Create a timeline and processes to engage the community on the topic of policing and, specifically, body cameras. The community engagement process will include various segments of our community including, but not limited to, communities of color, immigrant communities, crime and domestic violence victims and the LGBTQ community;
· Work with City managers to develop and implement an employee engagement process to better understand their perspectives. Specific focus should be given to MPD, MFD, ITS and DCR employees;
· Research best practices by communicating with personnel in cities using or considering the use of body cameras; and
· Write a report summarizing the findings of the above-mentioned engagement and research for use in the ad hoc committee’s deliberations.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Mayor will appoint a Community Policing and Body Camera Ad Hoc Committee. The Ad Hoc Committee will be made up of nine members, which will include one representative each of MPD, MFD, DCR, ITS, five community representatives with four of those seats designated each for an Equal Opportunities Commission citizen member, a domestic abuse victim services agency, an organization serving communities of color and an organization serving the LGBTQ community. The Ad Hoc Committee is charged with making recommendations to the Common Council on 1) how to continue to ensure positive relationships and trust between MPD and our citizens and 2) the framework for a pilot study for the use of body cameras including but not limited to policies and practices and their impact on citizens and City agencies and the fiscal implications.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Ad Hoc Committee will present its recommendations to the Common Council at its August 4, 2015, meeting.

6/30 – 5:00 – 1st Meeting – here’s the minutes
– They introduced themselves and elected a chair
– They got a report about what people were doing to gather input – but the people doing that work weren’t there to present (nothing in links)

7/21 – Timeline amended

7/30 – 9:00am – 2nd Meeting – here’s the minutes
– One public comment
– There were overview of reports by Captain Roman (nothing in link)
– YWCA update – (nothing in link)

Veronica L. made a motion for committee to still give a report to the Council on September 15th with their definitive recommendation on whether cameras should be used or not. If committee recommends to move forward with a recommendation for cameras than committee will ask for more time and assistance on developing policies and framework.

– From the minutes it looks like they are leaning towards not having body cameras based on interviews with 100 people. This was the summary:

•When the conversations began most groups and individuals said YES cameras should be used.
•As the discussion began and there was conversation most people felt cameras were NOT necessary.
• Vulnerable and marginalized communities were targeted. Therefore, open records was not the main concern
•The main concern – the ability police officers will have to turn cameras off and on. Many asked ‘what is the point of cameras then?’
•This gave most people a false sense of security. This can be seen on both sides.
•Depending on the group, privacy concerns were brought up especially for LGBTQ and Domestic Violence groups.
• A positive aspect people spoke to was situations may not escalate quickly

All across the groups there was theme that kept coming up that spoke to the police presence highlighting the overall feeling of distrust, fear, and a constant feeling of surveillance. People understand that there may be fear on both sides but cops carry guns.

8/25 – 1:00pm – 3rd Meeting – no minutes available

9/2 – 4th and FINAL? Meeting

^^^^^^ That is essentially all the information that I can find on this subject.

Um, where is the sunlight, the sun shine, the transparency? This isn’t how I expect my government to act. And it sure doesn’t go along with the recommendations of the city’s Racial Equity and Social Justice report.