HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - Police in Hampton Roads are spending thousands of your tax dollars on body cameras.
Five people have been shot by police in Norfolk this year. Four were killed and one person was injured.
In two cases body cameras were not turned on and in two other cases the body cameras were not issued to the officers who fired the deadly shots. State police are currently investigating the fifth case.
In March, India Beaty was one of the four people shot and killed.
Police said she waved a fake gun around and didn’t comply with officers’ commands.
Officers said two other men with her got on the ground when ordered by police, but she didn't.
India Beaty's father, McKinley Beaty, said he wishes there was some type of video that captured the final moments of his daughter’s life because he questions what happened.
"I hope that they turn [body cameras] on so when something happens you can say ‘this is what I say and that's the proof’ and right now people like me have to live in limbo," said Beaty.
Police said officers were not wearing body cameras at the time of the shooting because they were on a surveillance assignment for a narcotics investigation.
In another high profile case an investigation by the Suffolk Commonwealth's Attorney’s Office has found that a Suffolk Police officer who shot and killed an armed man in December 2015 was justified in his use of deadly force and no charges will be filed against him.
Corey Achstein was shot and killed by Suffolk Police Officer James Babor on December 28, 2015. The incident was all caught on body camera video.
When we look at the numbers, there are several cases where body cameras are not turned on in Hampton Roads.
Newport News Police said internal affairs has investigated when officers have discharged their weapons 15 times (also includes shootings of animals, accidental discharges, etc) since 2013. They say body cameras were activated in only three of those cases.
Norfolk Police said they recently added 130 more body cameras to the 300 that they started with in February 2015 and said officers are still getting used to turning them on.
"As we get our officers trained on it they will become more effective in turning on or activate our camera systems prior to these events. But we’ve only had them for a year or so now,” Officer Daniel Hudson with the Norfolk Police Department said.
Every department is different, but most law enforcement agencies in our region require body cameras to be turned on when officers are interacting with the public.
Police say having the body cameras protects the officers and provides evidence for their cases.
Several officers said getting use to wearing the cameras and turning them on is a learning process.
"It was one of the things that you had to get used to," said Isle of Wight Deputy Jeremy Hall. "It’s muscle memory just like anything else."
High intensity situations can unfold in seconds and decisions made in an instant can sometimes be fatal.
What happens when an officer forgets to turn on the device?
Hudson said, "Their supervisors are talking to them. 'Hey, I need you to remember to turn on your body camera. What can we help you do to remember to turn on your body camera?' Then down the road if things do occur with body cameras, there could be some other disciplinary actions that needs to be resulted."
He said right now they are trying to get their officers comfortable with wearing a body camera and no one will be fired for not turning them on.
"We just want our officers to understand this is new technology. We need to get you on the same page, remember to activate it when you have these interactions with the public," said Hudson.
The Virginia Beach Police Department says they have been researching the topic for several years. They said with proper funding they hope to have the cameras by 2017.
Virginia State Police don’t have body cameras at all.
When we asked if there are any plans to get them, State Police say the money would have to be approved by the General Assembly to both outfit and train all troopers across the state on how to use the cameras.
Different police agencies are dealing with the new technology in different ways.
Norfolk Police said the new officers are learning about body cameras in the academy to help to get them used to the camera early on.
"They can start utilizing it in the academy to get that muscle memory so when they get into a situation they’re constantly having that muscle memory to turn on the camera," said Hudson.
Departments are spending money on the devices in hopes of providing more transparency to cases.
But, for people like McKinley Beaty, his daughter’s death remains unsettled.
"I have to concentrate to keep it together. Every day I guess for the rest my life," Beaty said.
He hopes more agencies in the state get body cameras and turn them on so fewer families are left wondering what happened.
NewsChannel 3 reached out to police agencies in Hampton Roads to get more information about body cameras.
Here are the responses we received:
Chesapeake Police Department
Body Cameras: 289
Bought: They have been purchased over the past 3 years.
Plans to buy more: Yes, as they need to be replaced – as more/new officers graduate from the academy.
Cost: $600,122
Do they turn on automatically or is it the responsibility of the officer wearing the camera? Officer pushes a button to turn on
What, if any, is the penalty for not turning the cameras on? Discipline ranges in severity depending on if there are repeat offenses.
How many police involved shootings have you had in your city? 2009-2016 6 officer-involved shootings.
How many police involved shootings have you had in your city when a body camera was turned on? 1
What type of feedback are you receiving for your officers who wear the cameras? Unknown
Do you believe body cameras benefit the police department? Yes
Do you think body cameras benefit the public? Yes
Breakdown from Chesapeake Police of Officer Involving Shootings from 2009-present:
2009 Officer Involved Shooting – Resulting in Death
2012 Officer Involved Shooting – Resulting in Injury (No Video)
Officer Involved Shooting – Resulting in Injury (No Video)
2014 Officer Involved Shooting – Resulting in Injury (No Video)
2015 Officer Involved Shooting – Resulting in Death 2014 (No Video)
2016 Officer Involved Shooting – Resulting in Death 2016 (Video)
Portsmouth Police Department
Number of body cameras: 187
Bought: April 2015
Plans to buy more: At this time we do not have plans to purchase any more body worn cameras. However, it is important to note that Taser is coming out with a “Body Cam 2” that we will are looking at testing for our plain clothes detectives. This new body worn camera system is supposed to offer a better mounting option for officer who do not wear a uniform.
Cost: The Portsmouth Police Department has spent approximately $187,969 for the body camera equipment and service and approximately $108,936 for the annual storage and licensing fees.
Policy: It is the officers’ responsibility activate their body worn camera as stated in departmental policy. Officers are required to activate their body worn cameras for all calls where they have contact with a citizen, during all law enforcement activities where there is an elevated safety risk, the guarding of prisoners [when the officer has contact with them], or anytime an officer has an encounter with the public that becomes adversarial.
Penalty if not turned on: There is no one standard penalty for not turning on your body worn camera. The totality of the circumstances as to why the body worn camera was not activated is considered when an officer fails to comply with departmental policy. An example: An Officers first offense may be a supervisor telling the officer not to let it happen again. However, multiple offenses from the same officer will most likely be a group two offense in which the discipline consist of time off without pay.
How many police involved shootings have you had in your city?
In the last two years there have been three officer involved shootings in the City of Portsmouth.
In June 2014, a Chesapeake Officer had a shooting in our city.
We had two separate officer involved shootings by Portsmouth Police officers. One was in March 2015 and the other was in April of 2015.
How many police involved shootings have you had in your city when a body camera was turned on?
Full deployment of our body worn camera program began on November 6, 2015. Since there has not been any officer involved shootings in Portsmouth since April 2015, the answer to this question would be zero.
What type of feedback are you receiving for your officers who wear the cameras?
Feedback varies across the board from our officers. However, overall our officers appear to welcome the body worn camera program and are happy to have them.
Do you believe body cameras benefit the police department?
Yes. The body worn camera program helps build a rapport with our community by offering transparency. The program can also help prove to the community an officer made the right choice during an inquiry or investigation. This program also reminds everyone that they are being recorded (police or citizens), which in turn can ensure that everyone acts in a professional manner to each other. This can help defuse and avoid any uncivil contact.
Do you think body cameras benefit the public?
Yes, the program has consistently eased the minds of citizens because they know that officers are being held accountable for their actions. It also ensures that anyone involved in police contact situation remain professional to one another. The body worn camera program is a two-way tool that can be used to help build better police/community relations.
Norfolk Police Department
Number of body cameras: 430 body cameras which includes officers from the patrol division, traffic unit and our K-9 unit.
Bought: October 2014
Plans to buy more: Yes.
Cost: $278,088
Do they turn on automatically or is it the responsibility of the officer wearing the camera? The officer must press the button to activate the camera. Please see the following video for details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S22oe0JzgEg
What, if any, is the penalty for not turning the cameras on? Any violations of a departmental policy/order could result in an internal investigation and possible administrative discipline.
How many police involved shootings have you had in your city? This year we have had 5. Last year we had two non-fatal OIS, only one of these incidents resulted in a suspect being injured.
How many police involved shootings have you had in your city when a body camera was turned on? Two cases the body cameras were not turned on. In two other cases officers who fired the fatal shoots were not issued body cameras. The 5th case is currently under investigation by State Police.
What type of feedback are you receiving for your officers who wear the cameras? The cameras are well received.
Do you believe body cameras benefit the police department? Yes.
Do you think body cameras benefit the public? Yes
Suffolk Police Department
Body Cameras: 125
Bought: June 2015
Plans to buy more: We will purchase as the need arises.
Cost: $159,396
Do they turn on automatically or is it the responsibility of the officer wearing the camera? Responsibility of the Officer wearing it.
When are the cameras supposed to be activated? What types of calls? See policy excerpt below. There are exceptions and prohibitions on use which are noted in the attached policy. Officers shall activate the BWC to the record mode during each citizen encounter related to a call for service, law enforcement action, traffic stop, and/or other police service not outlined as prohibited within this policy. The recording shall continue until the citizen encounter has ended or the subject has been placed into custody and the arrestee is in compliance with all police commands. In the event that the arrestee becomes non-compliant, the camera shall be reactivated immediately. During an active crime scene, the BWC shall be activated until the crime scene is secured and under police control with no further citizen contact (i.e. standing the perimeter and/or collecting evidence).
What, if any, is the penalty for not turning the cameras on? Our Department uses progressive discipline. We counsel the Officers initially followed by progressive discipline.
How many police involved shootings have you had in your city? 1 in the last 3 years
How many police involved shootings have you had in your city when a body camera was turned on? 1
What type of feedback are you receiving for your officers who wear the cameras? They are used to using in-car cameras so this was just a new evolution in what we were already doing. They recognize the importance of accountability. They are also very happy when complaints against them are able to be dismissed by their body camera documentation.
Do you believe body cameras benefit the police department? Yes, it creates transparency and accountability with our citizens. It also offers a platform by which we can instruct our Officers on how to improve their citizen contacts, and is a ready source of documentation for the investigation of complaints.
Do you think body cameras benefit the public? Again it ensures that Police Agencies are accountable and transparent with the citizens they serve. It takes what might otherwise be perception and hearsay into the arena of incontrovertible fact.
Newport News Police Department
Number of body Cameras: 321
Bought: Between 3/6/13 and 7/6/15
Plans to buy more: We will expand our users and replace the older cameras as the need arises
Cost: $146,267.68 (paid for with budget funds, asset forfeiture funds and grant funds)
Do they turn on automatically or is it the responsibility of the officer wearing the camera?
It is the responsibility of the officer
When are the cameras supposed to be activated? What types of calls?
The camera shall be utilized during all investigative or enforcement contacts. (e.g., pedestrian and vehicle stops, consensual encounters, calls for service, on-view events, et cetera).
*What, if any, is the penalty for not turning the cameras on?
The incident is investigated by the supervisor and handled as a training or discipline issue according to what they discover. Intentional failure to use the camera is a disciplinary issue that could result in disciplinary points, days off or possible termination if the officer continued to improperly utilize the camera.
How many police involved shootings have you had in your city?
Since January 1, 2013 there have been a total of fifteen firearms discharges (also includes shootings of animals, accidental discharges, etc) investigated by Internal Affairs
How many police involved shootings have you had in your city when a body camera was turned on? Three
What type of feedback are you receiving for your officers who wear the cameras? It varies. The cameras have created an administrative burden but they realize that it captures interactions from their point of view. Video has been used to clear officers when complaints have been made against them. Supervisors have also had to discipline officers for unacceptable behavior that has been caught on camera.
Do you believe body cameras benefit the police department? Yes they do. Society expects officers to have them on and it creates tension when incidents are not caught on video.
Do you think body cameras benefit the public? Yes.
Virginia State Police
They do not have body cameras and say the money to get the cameras would have to come from and approved by the General Assembly to outfit and train all Troopers across the state.
Virginia Beach Police Department
They do not have body cameras, but are in the research stage of getting them. They hope to have them implemented by 2017.
Hampton Police Department
On August 7, 2015 the Hampton Police Division began issuing 80 body-worn cameras to officers working in patrol functions throughout the City of Hampton. Citizens will begin seeing officer’s wearing this tool which will be affixed to eyewear, hats or a halo style head mount. The launch of the Division’s body-worn camera will be utilized in conjunction with our in-car camera program which has been in existence for over a decade.
Over the last year, a project team made up of stakeholders in the program, to include patrol officers, IT Staff, Support Personnel and area prosecutors have spent countless hours developing the procedures, policy and training that will ensure best practices and a seamless transition.
Officers extensively field tested various different camera systems, but ultimately chose the Taser Axon Flex body-worn camera system due to its ease of use and field of vision. Officer’s that have been issued a body-worn camera system have received additional training that will ensure proper utilization of the device. Officers are required to record all law enforcement specific contacts. This includes investigative or enforcement functions.
The Division will also begin utilizing “Evidence.com”, a cloud-based video evidence storage service to maintain video footage captured by body-worn cameras. The body camera and storage system maintain “tamper proof” raw recordings that eliminates the possibility of video footage being edited or erased. “Evidence.com” is an efficient way to organize, maintain, and tag clips to police records and criminal cases. Additionally, it provides prosecutors with a simplistic method to prepare for and prosecute cases that have been recorded via the body-worn camera system.
The Division is committed to public transparency and accountability. The utilization of body-worn cameras is intended to enhance the Division’s level of public trust within the community, thus advancing our ability to prevent crime and victimization through problem solving policing. Our department has not had any officer-involved shootings in the last year.
Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office
The Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s office began implementing body worn cameras in mid-2014. To date each of our patrol officers and SROs are outfitted with them. As funds become available extra cameras will be purchased and issued to our Court Security Deputies as well as Investigators. To date between $15,000 and $20,000.00 has been spent on body worn cameras and associated items that supplement this program.
The Sheriff’s Office policy on body worn cameras is attached. Our cameras do not turn on automatically. It is the responsibility of the deputy to turn on the camera as outlined in the policy. The penalty for not activating the camera is also outlined in the policy. Failure to activate a camera is reported to the Sheriff’s command staff and all disciplinary actions and the severity of those actions are at the discretion of the Sheriff.
The Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office has had one officer involved shooting in the last 5 years. That shooting took place before we issued body worn cameras. That incident happened in August of 2013. Overall our deputies have been very happy with the cameras. We have had a few complaints lodged against deputies but when we went back and viewed the camera footage the complaint was deemed unfounded. Therefore the video saved the deputy from having to go through a lengthy internal affairs process.
The cameras have been beneficial to both the Sheriff’s Office and to the public. For the public, it allows an extra layer of transparency to be added to an agency that strives to be transparent in all we do. For the office, it is a twofold benefit. First, it allows us to have a tool that documents our interaction with citizens of Isle Of Wight County. Interaction with the public is something that happens dozens of times a day. We have always felt that our deputies interact well with the citizens of Isle of Wight and are responsive to their needs. Body worn cameras prove this. Lastly, they allow us to police ourselves. We randomly review videos on a daily basis. When irregularities or weaknesses are noted they are documented and discussed by the command staff. This opens doors to explore training opportunities that ultimately strengthen the agency and the services we provide to the public.
Click here to sign up for news email alerts from NewsChannel 3.
