S.F. Police Commission poised to vote on officer body cams

On the eve of the San Francisco Police Commission’s vote on a policy for the use of body cameras by police officers, one hotly debated aspect of the proposal prompted opponents Tuesday to make a last-ditch push to get the panel to reconsider allowing officers to view video before writing reports.

After Mayor Ed Lee announced in May that he was setting aside more than $3 million in the city’s budget to equip 1,800 officers with body-worn cameras, Police Commission President Suzy Loftus said the department would not be permitted to use the cameras until the commission put in place stringent policies developed by the community stakeholders who would be most affected by the use of this technology.

Another version would allow officers to view the footage for “any legitimate investigatory purpose,” but would prevent them from doing so if they are involved in an officer-involved shooting, in-custody death or criminal investigation, or at the discretion of the chief.

The Bar Association of San Francisco, the American Civil Liberties Union and San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi called Tuesday for the Police Commission to vote against a use policy that would permit officers to view the footage before writing their reports, arguing such a move would tempt officers to allow their recollection of events to be skewed by the video.

Throughout the process of developing the proposal, police groups spoke in favor of permitting officers access to the video before filing reports.

At one community meeting, retired and off-duty officers, some still in uniform, spoke about how the heightened stress of the job often can distort their memories when it came to filing reports.

Police Officers Association President Martin Halloran said if the section is not approved, the union would most likely advise officers to not cooperate when they are at the center of an officer-involved shooting investigation.

According to the policy proposal, officers would turn on the cameras for essentially all public interaction with the exception of those involving sexual assault and child abuse victims, confidential informants and strip searches.

Officers would be required to upload all footage immediately at the end of a shift, and that video will be stored on a server for 60 days, or for two years if it is part of an investigation that leads to the detention or arrest of a suspect, if it is relevant to a formal or informal complaint or if it captured a use-of-force incident.

The public will have access to the footage through public records requests “in accordance with the provisions of federal, state and local statutes and Department policy,” according to the proposal.