CC_Minutes_2017_1127 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular City Council Meeting Monday,November 27, 2017 Page 4 rather than doing so piece meal for the nineteen squads ready with necessary equipment to facilitate body cameras rather than pulling them off-line at the time the body cameras were approved for implementation. At the request of Councilmember Laliberte, Chief Mathwig advised that approxi- mately one month ago the internal decision had been made to stay with Panasonic for squad and body cameras when the product became available. At the request of Councilmember McGehee, Chief Mathwig confirmed that the body cameras can be turned off once an officer leaves the squad. Councilmember McGehee questioned how this affected the policy as well as how it addressed pri- vacy issues previously raised (e.g. medical calls). Councilmember McGehee opined that, without a larger forum to discuss their use, body cameras didn't pro- tect citizens, but simply assisted officers when accused. Councilmember McGe- hee spoke in opposition to moving forward without a fuller policy discussion on how body cameras worked as well as addressing the significant annual cost going forward. Chief Mathwig clarified that, with the exception of a few circumstances that meet certain criteria addressed in the policy, body cameras must remain on until an in- cident is concluded. As far as medical call outs, Chief Mathwig advised that state statute had been crafted so the public would and could not have access to private data. Given the amount of hacking occurring, Councilmember McGehee questioned what the community expectations could be and what benefit the use of body cam- eras would provide through this big expenditure to the average Roseville resident. Chief Mathwig opined that, while the Roseville Police Department was already doing a good job, the use of body cameras would provide yet more increased transparency in law enforcement by recording activities and events, and docu- menting evidence for those feeling they had been aggrieved, as well as allowing officers to better record incidents in real time. Councilmember McGehee opined that the Roseville Police Department had al- ready built more community trust between citizens and officers without the use of body cameras. Therefore, if the intent was to spend more money, Councilmember McGehee stated her preference for vetting officers and providing additional train- ing to ensure respectful and intelligent officers without the need for body camer- as. At the request of Councilmember McGehee, Chief Mathwig firmly clarified that officers could not edit their videos with only administration able to do so within system parameters; with each video time and date stamped, and open for officer review and comment only, but not any editing. Chief Mathwig further advised