Even the police say body cameras are useful. So why aren’t there any in Pierce County?
None of Pierce County’s 19 police departments requires officers to wear body cameras.
Several police chiefs and Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said they would like to implement a body-camera program, but state public records laws and the cost of buying and maintaining equipment have made them unfeasible.
“I believe the use of dash cameras or body-worn cameras provides law enforcement agencies with a useful tool to conduct better investigations, improve accountability and transparency,” Pacific’s Police Chief Craig Schwartz told The News Tribune.
Body-worn cameras are battery-charged cameras placed on the front of an officer’s uniform. They record interactions between police and the people they encounter on the job.
Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards has vowed to push for body cameras after the death of Manuel Ellis, who died in March while being restrained by police, and protests against police brutality and calls for reform.
“We have waited way, way too long. And we have heard way too many excuses,” Woodards said recently.
Tacoma is in the process of acquiring body cameras, said TPD spokesperson Wendy Haddow. Starting last year, the department began testing equipment in a closed environment and as of March was looking at vendors and costs more closely.
In Washington, at least two police departments have body cameras, Seattle and Spokane. The Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs doesn’t track the number of departments with body-worn cameras and doesn’t know of any agency that does, WASPC’s Communication Consultant Barbara Smith said.
A 2016 national study reported that nearly half of all law enforcement agencies had body cameras.
Public records law an obstacle
The News Tribune contacted each Pierce County police department to ask whether it has body cameras following calls from elected officials and the public for more transparency in law enforcement.
The Buckley Police Department did not respond.
Most chiefs and Pastor told The News Tribune the state public records law is the biggest obstacle.
Chiefs say it’s a costly administrative add-on. Pastor said the cost of holding, processing, redacting and distributing material requested video material is very high, but he wouldn’t offer an estimate.
“It is very difficult for us to keep up with requests for printed material, much less video recordings,” Pastor said.
He added that the personal privacy of those filmed is a concern.
“I believe that there is real potential for victims and witnesses to be identified for purposes of intimidation by perpetrators and real potential for people we come into contact with to be ridiculed,” Pastor said in an email.
“I personally would love body cams, but the policy around it seems very challenging to navigate,” Orting’s Mayor Joshua Penner said.
Gig Harbor Chief Kelley Busey said a change needs to be made in the public records law to weed out requests like “All videos maintained by the department…” or “All videos where the police contacted a person wearing a blue shirt.”
Two departments in Pierce County have in-vehicle cameras, Lakewood, Pacific, and Gig Harbor will soon join them.
Lakewood Police Chief Mike Zaro said cameras in patrol cars offer a broad perspective that shows a scene but isn’t without flaws.
“Video never captures what a person thinks or feels, only what is said and physical movements,” Zaro said. “And no single camera angle or view can capture everything that’s done, leaving blind spots that are open to interpretation.”
The sheriff’s department, Puyallup and Orting once had in-car cameras but dropped them because officials said complying with public record requests became too costly and time-consuming.
Cost of equipment is high
Cost of body camera equipment was another frequently mentioned reason Pierce County departments have not embraced the technology.
The Seattle Police Department has spent $2.26 million on its body-camera program since its creation in 2018.
Annual costs include $1.1 million for hardware, software and storage, and $730,000 for six positions: three to review video and three for IT support and data analysis, said Nick Zajchowski, who oversees the program.
Philip Stinson, a professor on police behavior at Bowling Green State University, said police departments across the country are struggling to make ends meet without the added cost of body-camera programs.
“A lot of police chiefs view this as luxury: good to have but perhaps can’t afford it,” Stinson said. “I’m not suggesting it’s not worth the cost, but when we are making calls to defund the police, we have to look closely at the cost involved.”
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department has repeatedly asked for more officers, so asking for funds for workers to watch and redact body camera footage is a low priority, said sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer. Troyer said initial estimates indicate the department would need eight to 10 people to maintain the program and upwards of $1 million dollars a year to implement body-worn cameras.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department consists of about 300 commissioned officers, while the Seattle Police Department has roughly 1,400.
The sheriff’s department needs 28 additional patrol officers, and Troyer said the department wouldn’t want to cut deputies for a body camera program.
“If the county wants to fund it and do a study, you’re not going to have opposition from us,” he said. “We like cameras. The majority of the time cameras exonerate the police.”
City of Roy Police Chief Dwight Armitage said his three-man department would need to hire another person dedicated to reviewing body-camera footage, and the costs are just too high.
Sumner Police Department Chief Brad Moericke echoed that in an email.
“I want to assure you that if I spotted any disturbing or increasing trends in either complaints or incidents of force being used by officers, I would be one of the first ones to approach our city leadership about implementing cameras— regardless of the cost,” Moericke said in an email.
Plans to use cameras
In addition to Tacoma, two other Pierce County departments are in the process of implementing body cameras.
DuPont is expected to add body cameras in July. The 13-man department will pay an annual cost of $8,000 to receive body cameras, Mayor Ron Frederick said.
Police Chief Douglas Newman said getting body-worn cameras has been a goal for some time. In July 2019, he started a feasibility project.
“Once received, DPD Officers will undergo training on how to operate the cameras, applicable laws, policies and expectations for use,” a press release said.
Mayor Ronald Frederick said body cameras are cheaper now because footage can be uploaded to cloud storage, rather than requiring the department to purchase a server and other needed technology.
Frederick said he is aware of issues with public disclosure but will do what it takes to have cameras on the streets.
“We may have to go to the state and (Attorney General) to see what we can do for footage,” he said. “If there are some issues, we will have to go to the state Legislature and say we need better legislation to make this happen.”
The Tacoma Police Department cannot yet release a cost estimate, Haddow said. Prior News Tribune reports estimate cameras costing anywhere from $700,000 to $2.2 million, not including money for additional manpower to handle hundreds of hours of video.
Gig Harbor has the equipment and policy for body-worn cameras but is waiting for a technician to come next week to help solve some technical issues, Busey said. The department had a pilot program in 2016 and had some technology problems that took time to resolve.
Other departments, including Steliacoom, Lakewood and Milton, said the current dialogue on police reform will likely result in renewing body-worn camera conversations.
‘A win-win for everybody’
Gregory Christopher is pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church and president of the Tacoma Ministerial Alliance. Christopher has been working with advocates to demand body cameras in Tacoma.
“We feel like they have basically been dragging their feet,” he told The News Tribune recently.
Body cameras will not only help determine if police are using excessive force but also if police are falsely accused, Christopher said.
“It’s a win-win for everybody,” he said.
James Bible, the attorney for Manuel Ellis’ family, said at a press conference recently that having both body- and car dashboard cameras is responsible policing. Bible referenced George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
“The reality is that this moment, very few people actually believe black folks when there’s not a video. What would George Floyd look like without that video?” Bible said. “That’s the question we have to pose for ourselves.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2020 at 7:05 AM.
