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Body Camera Program Gears Up, Grinds Down Again For over two years, the Portland Police proposal to equip officers with body cameras ("copcams") has been mentioned but not acted upon. In January, the Bureau hired a specialist to revitalize the program. Tammy Mayer, a civilian employee (and former military police officer) made the rounds to community meetings and held three city-wide forums from January to March. Portland Copwatch (PCW) members heard Mayer's presentation five times,* noting there was no discussion of punishment for officers who fail to follow policies around copcams. Just as City Council was about to authorize a $1.6 million pilot project, Mayor Wheeler pulled it off the agenda, worried he did not have three votes to pass the proposal. The Oregonian (March 17) suggests the snag may have been in part due to the Portland Police Association (PPA) reminding Council they can bargain over the copcam policy. PCW has taken a neutral position on copcams, since they are more likely to be used to prosecute community members for crimes than to hold officers accountable.
In reference to Sgt. Gregg Lewis' request for officers to "go out and kill some black people" (p. 9), PCW asked whether precinct roll calls would be recorded. Mayer said that because they included tactical discussions, they would not, in the same way cops will likely be able to turn cameras off when they discuss tactics during a criminal situation. This means officers could be free to make denigrating remarks about community members if the cameras are ever adopted. Copcams were part of the contentious renewal of the PPA contract in October 2016 (PPR #70). At that time, Council ordered the Bureau to create a stakeholder group to advise them about the copcam policy. PCW was, before the program was put on ice again, invited to be on that panel after we reminded Mayer and the Bureau about the Council's directive. Because this body will be advising all of City Council, we believe the meetings will be required to be open to the public under Oregon law. The reason for the flurry of activity isn't clear, but in March, Portland Committee on Community Engaged Policing (PCCEP) member Sam Sachs made reference to wanting the program in place to impress Judge Michael Simon. Simon will decide in June whether the City has made sufficient progress in regard to the US Department of Justice Settlement Agreement on Use of Force. He has asked the City several times about implementing a body camera program, even though that is not written into the Agreement. Sachs' plea that "everyone" supports body cameras came despite the PCCEP never having voted on a position.
*-including two presentations to the Portland Committee on
Community Engaged Policing and one to the Citizen Review Committee; her presentation to the
Training Advisory Council was canceled at the last minute after Wheeler pulled the funding
request.
In late February, Memphis, TN proposed a law that would have an officer face felony charges for failing to record a deadly force incident.
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May, 2019
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#77 Table of Contents
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Mayer's forums were
not a great testament to the Bureau's "community engagement" abilities; a total of roughly 30
community members attended the three general meetings. At the first, five people were forced to sit
at different tables to talk about policy issues, along with police officers and City staff. At the third,
the four community members present included a potential copcam vendor. Much of the dialogue
was dominated by Assistant Chief Chris Davis, who responded to PCW's suggestion for officers
to be required to turn the cameras on when they go beyond the basic legal definition of a "mere
conversation." He admitted officers regularly approach people saying things like "this is a high
crime area, you're not involved in that, are you?" This pretty clearly is not a conversation you would
have with a friend, and indicates police need guidelines on what constitutes a stop and how to
engage with the community without trying to get them to incriminate themselves.