CLEVELAND, Ohio — Many Cleveland police officers will not be wearing body cameras if protests turn violent during the Republican National Convention, officials said.
Police officials have told officers that a host of logistical issues, including an inability to attach the cameras to police riot gear, means officers will not be able to wear the devices.
The department says officers will use other methods to record police interactions with protesters and the public during the convention. But the head of a police union and the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio expressed concern that the officers who will be thrust in the most volatile situations will not be wearing a device that is a deterrent for both violence against police and officer misconduct.
“To have those body cameras and not allow us to wear them is absolutely irresponsible,” Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association President Steve Loomis said Friday.
Christine Link, executive director at the ACLU of Ohio, called the news a “serious concern.”
“There’s no way that [police] have enough people doing video to cover what body cameras would cover,” Link said.
The four-day convention, from July 18-21, is expected to draw 65,000 delegates, dignitaries, and reporters from around the world, as well as thousands of protesters.
Cleveland police Chief Calvin Williams said in a September to officers the convention would bring “challenges of historic proportions” and stretch the department “to its current limits.”
The city plans to bring in thousands of officers from police departments to help provide security. Whether those officers wear body cameras will be up to their department, Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said.
Cleveland’s police force will wear “softer” uniforms at the beginning of the RNC, rather than adopting a military-style approach that might inflame tensions. Tampa police took a similar approach during the 2012 RNC.
The officers in softer uniforms will wear their body cameras, which cost the city $2.4 million in 2015, and be required to follow the department’s recording policy, Ciaccia said in an emailed statement to cleveland.com.
Should protesters clash with police, officers will dress in riot gear and administer crowd control tactics.
Those officers, who will face the most volatile and potentially explosive situations during the convention, will not wear cameras, Ciaccia said.
Ciaccia stressed that police officers will use other methods of recording. During past protests, detectives on the ground have used hand-held cameras, and police have filmed confrontations from helicopters.
“We are confident with the operational plan we have in place that we will capture any interaction/encounter with a citizen during the RNC,” Ciaccia said.
Loomis, who initially spoke out against body cameras, blasted the decision.
“Just when we get used to them and we want them to be around, [the department] tells us, when we probably need them the most, that we’re not going to be wearing them,” Loomis said.
Loomis pointed to recent clashes between protesters and police outside rallies held by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in New Mexico and Chicago. He said body cameras would deter “paid, professional protesters” from throwing rocks or bricks at police officers to spur a confrontation.
He also said footage would help clear officers from false allegations of misconduct by protesters.
“We want those cameras on so we’re not falsely accused of acting anything but professional,” Loomis said.
Link noted that the city entered into court-enforced police reform last year, after a 20-month Department of Justice investigation found the police department too often used excessive force.
By not having body cameras recording potential clashes between officers and protesters, the city risks further complicating an already stressed public perception of the department, Link said.
The hand-held cameras leave open the chance for officers to stop recording, turn away or miss key parts of an altercation, whether purposely or not, Link said.
The body cameras capture the entire interaction, and will help not only ward against police misconduct, but also help police supervisors analyze tactics and investigate complaints, Link said.
“If hand-held video cameras and helicopters could cover everything, why did we invest millions of dollars in body cameras in the first place?” Link asked.
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/05/cleveland_police_in_riot_gear.html
No transparency, no accountability; Cleveland has something to hide.
It won’t matter – there will be tens of thousands of mobile HD video-capture devices, uploading to the cloud in real time (so deleting the video will not be an option). Any pig who puts a foot wrong will be identified pretty much immediately – and we all know that he will face no discipline when exposed.
That said: even though the internal pig discipline functions won’t do anything about pig misbehaviour, it is still far better for individuals to record events themselves than to rely on the pigs’ self-recording (which has a track record of mysterious ‘malfunction’ just before they start shooting or beating innocent bystanders).
I have written this before: protest organisers should be spending a few hundred dollars on a bunch of MD80 (thumb sized) video cameras, and 8 or 9 small drones.
Relying on pig self-oversight is stupid: get someone up high with a GoPro and do your own HD overwatch.
Don’t be so quick to judge, All police are not bad and do not deserve to be called pigs. If people continue attacking their credibility and lives there will be no protection and that is what the elite are working for.
My son is a honorable reputable man and I resent your putting them all in the same category. Some day when you need help big boy , you better learn to really really pray ,cause the good guys will be long gone .
You see you are playing right into the hands of the world federation and may God look out for you and your family you are full of accusations and hate.
Belittling others makes you feel superior but you are far from it. You are the type that will follow the crowd to the path of destruction , check your heart!