Cam Policies Finalized
Via The Columbus Dispatch:
Columbus police officers will be allowed to review body camera footage before they file reports or make statements under new rules the city agreed to with its police union.
The city released the agreement, dated Sept. 23, on Thursday. Finishing it keeps the city on track to equip the first officers with body cameras by the end of the year. The new policy was bargained in the middle of the union’s existing contract that expires on Dec. 8, 2017.
Now the city needs to negotiate a contract to buy the cameras. City officials have pared down a list of potential vendors after a test phase in August.
Under the union agreement, officers can use recordings to help them prepare police reports. That point was among the most debated topics a task force tackled in making recommendations to Mayor Andrew J. Ginther.
“If we’re going to write a report, this is going to provide a lot more detail than what we’ve been used to in the past, particularly when it comes to uses of force,” said Jason Pappas, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Local No. 9.