Some area law enforcement agencies hold out on body cameras - WISN Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE —

Police body cameras are more the norm now than the exception.

They are a "must-have" tool in a new era of law enforcement, but some departments still don't have them.

When Kenosha police Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Jacob Blake seven times, the department was not equipped with body cameras, leaving investigators to rely — in part — on the word of the officers and cellphones which captured the shooting from a distance.

"Mr. Graveley, how much more helpful would have body cameras been in this case?" WISN 12 News investigative reporter Derrick Rose asked the Kenosha County district attorney in January.

"That is a must. This is a case where both the use of force expert and myself would have been dramatically assisted by body cams being present," Michael Gravely said.

The district attorney's decision not to charge Sheskey with a crime came in January, the same month the Wisconsin Department of Justice published a survey on the use of body cameras by law enforcement agencies statewide.

At the time, 107 agencies that responded to the survey reported only having cameras in squad cars, which included Kenosha police.

In September 2021, more than a year after the Blake shooting, Kenosha police announced in a tweet its body cameras had arrived.

That survey also reported 54 agencies did not have either dashboard or body cameras.

At the time, New Berlin police were on that list.

Among the reasons cited for the lack of cameras was the cost, which not only covers the devices themselves, but preserving the camera footage.

"The cost for data storage is is the hidden cost that a lot of people don't see until you get the final numbers and then it becomes very costly," New Berlin police Capt. Steve Thompson said.

"Even given the cost, it's worth it? Correct?" Rose asked.

"One hundred percent worth it," Thompson said.

Thompson said the chief made getting cameras a priority and eventually got the backing from the city.

"We understand that to have a good partnership with our community, transparency is going to get us there," Thompson said.

The department made considerable progress this year, testing multiple vendors.

"Now we're into the purchasing phase. We're looking to get these rolled out by the end of this year," Thompson said.

Other departments have also come on board, adding body cameras to the uniform requirements for officers, including

• Cudahy police, which now has them
• Glendale police deployed its body cameras in August
• Oak Creek officers were expected to put them in use last month

There are some departments that still don't have body cameras, such as Franklin police, whose officers in September shot a man they claim had a gun.

David Marshall Jr. died that day, having been suspected of kidnapping, carjacking and a chase in the hours before the shooting.

WISN 12 News only learned of the lack of body cameras when 12 News asked if any video would be made public from the investigation.

In an email, an official said the chief declined to be interviewed for this story.

WISN 12 News was also unable to talk with Waukesha County Sheriff Eric Severson, who runs the third-largest sheriff's department in the state.

The state Department of Justice survey reported the department has neither camera option.

Joseph Mensah, who left the Wauwatosa Police Department after three fatal shootings in a five-year span, now works for the Waukesha County Sheriff's Office. He was not charged in any of the shootings.

"Would you want to work on a police department that does not have body cameras?" Rose asked.

"No, I would not," Milwaukee Police Department Sgt. Doug Wiorek said.

"Why not?" Rose asked.

"I like the ability to have somebody sitting over my shoulder, watching what I'm doing, even if it's not an actual human," Wiorek said.

Wiorek runs the body camera program for the state's largest police agency – the Milwaukee Police Department.

The department has taken a progressive approach. It's now on its third version of cameras in six years.

"Our contract runs about $1.7 million a year. But that not only includes body cameras, but also the Taser product, 350 squad cars running the Axon product and 28 interview rooms," Wiorek said.

All of which run on the same network for convenience and efficiency, but more importantly, for transparency and insurance.

"If an officer is falsely accused of, let's say, a use of force incident, and the body camera clears them, the body cameras just paid for themselves right there with that one lawsuit. You probably heard the history, you know, MPD is involved in these multimillion-dollar lawsuits. I think a lot of those are pre-body cameras. And, you know, just to have that, you know, verifiable account of what happened saves millions," Wiorek said.

Kenosha police officers test out body cameras

Good Housekeeping

source: https://www.wisn.com/article/some-area-law-enforcement-agencies-hold-out-on-body-cameras/38478872

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