Pasco police given green light to start using body-worn cameras

Motorists stopped by Pasco police and alleged criminals picked up on arrest warrants may soon find their every move being captured by a body camera.

Pasco City Council members have given the green light for the Pasco Police Department to use body-worn cameras.

The ordinance was approved June 6 and took effect five days later, which means the department now can officially begin the pilot program.

But don’t expect to see every officer equipped with a camera any time soon.

The department is planning to use a test camera while continuing to work out the details of its policy.

Then it has to secure funding for the technology, which can cost between $500 and $1,000 per device and up to $10,000 for backup servers to store the video footage.

When fully staffed, the department has 76 sworn officers.

Capt. Ken Roske told council members last week that the department is eager to get the program launched in “a beta form” to help get a lot of questions answered.

“What’s this going to look like for us in our community?” Roske said. “There’s a lot of factors that body cameras bring to the table that we want to explore and look at from an evidentiary standpoint, a prosecution standpoint, a training standpoint.”

Pasco police have adopted a model policy from the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

The city is taking advantage of state legislation passed earlier this year that makes body-camera videos available to the public, but limits broad requests for the specific footage and sets parameters on what is presumed to be private under the Public Records Act.

City Manager Dave Zabell told council members and the public last week that it is legitimate for people to have privacy concerns.

The police department’s draft policy says people can decline to be recorded, unless the officer is pursuing a search or an arrest within a residence.

Zabell said the purpose of the program “isn’t about officer misconduct. It’s about public and officer safety, both being extremely important.”

Councilman Al Yenney said people need to remember “this is a tool for the safety of all of the Pasco residents and also the police officers.

The device isn’t just to focus “on the bad officer,” but “will be a positive thing that will come to our community,” Yenney added.

Leo Perales, a Kennewick resident and representative of the Latino coalition, said he was in favor of the ordinance and of the Pasco Police Department’s advancements with newer technology.

But Perales questioned if officers will be able to turn off the camera, especially when the other subject is law enforcement personnel, and if they will be able to view the recording before filing a report, like in a case of deadly force.

He also suggested outreach efforts to get the community engaged and help people understand the new policy.

“This is a great tool. It’s going to be a tool to be able to prosecute criminals. It’s going to be able to reduce our crime even more,” Perales said.

He added that body cameras will give police the “ability to strengthen the relationships that they already have with the communities in which they serve.”

The policy was included in the June 6 council agenda report and is posted on Pasco’s website.

The city council plans to check in on the program and its implementation in three months.

This story was originally published June 12, 2016 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Pasco police given green light to start using body-worn cameras."