Page 7 - ARUBA TODAY

A7
U.S. NEWS Friday 6 april 2018

$ 10

Minneapolis police put teeth in stricter body camera rules

By STEVE KARNOWSKI patched to a closer inci- "We looked it over. We
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Min- dent. That includes assisting have no issues with it. It
neapolis police officers squad cars. A list of other clearly defines the duties
dispatched to a scene situations also requires ac- and expectations. ... We're
must activate their body tivation. The new rules also good with it," said Lt. Bob
cameras well before they specify when officers can Kroll, president of the Min-
arrive and could face pro- deactivate their cameras. neapolis Police Federation.
gressively harsh penalties Officers are also required Arradondo also said the
for not doing so, ranging to notify their supervisor if a city will put data on its web-
from suspensions to firing, camera malfunctions and site before summer that will
the police department an- the supervisor will decide show citizens how well or
nounced Wednesday. whether the officer remains poorly the department is
The department's strict- on call. Failure to activate complying, down to the
er body camera policy the camera when the rules precinct and neighbor-
comes after it was criticized require can now result in hood level.
last summer when two of- a 40-hour suspension for Justin Terrell, executive di-
ficers involved in the fatal the first offense and can rector of the Council for In this March 21, 2018, file photo, former Minneapolis Police Of-
shooting of an Australian get an officer fired if there Minnesotans of African ficer Mohamed Noor leaves the Hennepin County Public Safety
Facility with his attorney, Thomas Plunkett, left, after posting bail
woman, Justine Ruszczyk are aggravating factors. American Heritage, told in Minneapolis.
Damond, failed to activate Similar penalties will apply reporters he wanted to rec- Associated Press
their body cameras when if officers deactivate their ognize Frey and Arradondo
they were dispatched to cameras before the rules for their "good work" in their cessors both lost their jobs tion that they're serious
her home. The officer who allow. Suspensions start at short times in their positions. partly over their handling of about working on police
killed Damond, Mohamed 10 hours for failing to docu- Arradondo became chief the Damond case. issues, which is really impor-
Noor, has been fired and is ment premature deactiva- in August and Frey took of- "We see in the first few tant to me and to our com-
charged with third-degree tions. But department of- fice in January. Their prede- months of this administra- munity," Terrell said. q
murder and second-de- ficials will have discretion
gree manslaughter. to consider mitigating and
"For the first time, we're giv- aggravating factors.
ing the body camera poli- "Any body camera policy
cy teeth by providing the worth its salt must have
first clear disciplinary struc- consequences. This one
ture for instances when this does," Frey said thumping
policy is violated," Mayor on the podium for empha-
Jacob Frey said at a news sis. An internal audit in Sep-
conference announcing tember found that officers
the new rules. "It is a stron- were activating their cam-
ger, clearer and more pre- eras more often, but that
cise policy." use of the technology was
After Damond's death, po- inconsistent and some offi-
lice Chief Medaria Arra- cers never turned them on
dondo instituted new rules at all. The City Council then
requiring officers to hit the instructed the department
camera's record button to report quarterly on com-
when responding to every pliance.
call or traffic stop, but com- Deputy Chief Henry Halvor-
pliance was lackluster and son conceded at a coun-
he acknowledged that no cil hearing in February that
officers had been disci- the department still wasn't
plined for failing to comply. tracking whether all officers
Arradondo said the new were routinely using their
policy gives officers "clearly cameras and that it hadn't
defined expectations" and fully staffed the office that
will help build trust and ac- is supposed to review foot-
countability with the public. age to ensure officers are
The new rules specify that complying.
officers must activate Police union leaders re-
their cameras at least two viewed a draft of the new
blocks from their destina- policy and offered recom-
tions, or immediately if dis- mendations.