Different views on use of police body cameras

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sunday's police-involved shooting has renewed questions over whether officers should wear body cameras to document exactly what happened.

Within hours of Devanta Jones' shooting by an officer, his family was questioning details of the shooting given by police and asking why Jacksonville officers don't wear the cameras.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office doesn't use those cameras, and Sheriff John Rutherford has vocally opposed their use.

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Asked whether such cameras would have addressed any discrepancies in what happened in Sunday's shooting, JSO Director Tom Hackney answered that there were no discrepancies.

"I have a 20-year veteran officer that tells me what he saw. I believe him," Hackney said.

Protesters on the Northside of Jacksonville Monday felt very differently about the impact body cams would make on policing and police and community relations as a whole.

"We are familiar with body cams, and we are demanding body cams.  The police foundation did a study, and they found that any time you use body cams there is a dramatic reduction in police use of force.  There is a dramatic reduction in citizens' complaints," one protester said.  "There is a need for JSO to stand down, de-escalate and renegotiate.  This community is already seething with unrest and distrust of those who are sworn to protect us.

Hackney added there are also privacy concerns about using the cameras. For instance, what if the name of a sexual assault victim was recorded and released?

JSO also cited a study by the Force Science Institute that gives 10 limitations of the use of body cameras:

  • A camera doesn't follow your eyes or see as they see
  • Some important danger cues can't be recorded
  • Camera speed differs from the speed of life
  • A camera may see better than you do in low light
  • Your body may block the view
  • A camera only records in 2-D
  • The absence of sophisticated time-stamping may prove critical
  • One camera may not be enough
  • A camera encourages second-guessing
  • A camera can never replace a thorough investigation
  • Source: Force Science Institute

    News4Jax asked the two men running to be the next sheriff of Jacksonville their opinions of body cameras.

    Ken Jefferson said it is something that needs to be looked into, while Mike Williams sent a statement saying, "There are just too many issues related to body cameras for JSO officers at this time. More discussion is necessary."

    In Bradford County, just to the southwest of Jacksonville, the Sheriff's Office uses body cameras, but it's up to the deputy to decide to wear it.

    "I can tell you people that have come into my office and challenged something that is been said and done by an officer. And even when you show them the truth -- the video that displays that -- they're still not happy," said Sheriff Gordon Smith. "They come up with another excuse. They always find something."

    Body cameras are becoming more popular with police agencies, but there's still no standardization of when and how they are used.

    Bradford County said it is waiting for more recommendations to come out from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and other large agencies on how to handle and save the material they collect.

    "The reason I'm so anti-mandatory (on the) use of the body cameras: It's not to protect us; it's to protect the people that we serve," Smith said.


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    Jim Piggott is the reporter to count on when it comes to city government and how it will affect the community.